NTERVENTION OF THE HEAD OF THE GREEK DELEGATION, MR EVANGELOS SYRIGOS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AGENDA ITEM 4 Dear President, I would like to thank you for offering us an excellent opportunity to exchange views and experiences on the identification of best practices and positive measures regarding national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Greece, fully subscribing to the principles and aims enshrined in the Declaration and in other relevant human .rights standards and instruments has, over the last years, translated its provisions and guidelines into specific measures regarding its Muslim Minority, residing in the region of Thrace, north-eastern Greece. Allow me to present you a brief outline of some of these best practices 1. In 1996 a 0.5% quota has been introduced for the admission to Universities and Higher Technical Educational Institutes of members of the Muslim minority. This proved to be an excellent tool against the segragation of students in schools. The number of Muslim students who prefered to attend public schools in all levels together with their Christian colleagues, has tripled since 1996. More important, in 1996 the number of Muslim students entering Greek universities was 67 persons. This year 510 Muslim students entered the universities. This means an increase of 820% within 17 years. 2. In order to stop segragation of students, a program for the teaching of the Turkish language in High Schools in the big cities of Thrace has been introduced since 2008. The programme can be attended by both members of the minority and majority. 3. A third measure is a 0.5%0 quota to the State exams system for civil servants which was introduced in favour of persons belonging to the Muslim minority. 4. A fourth example of best practices is the establishment of Youth Councils, with the participation and active involvement of young Christians & Muslims alike, as part of the Local Administration network in Thrace. 5. In secondary education, the Greek state supports the operation of two Muslim religious schools in the areas where the Muslim minority lives. These schools follow the curriculum of public schools including the respect of democratic values while educating students to undertake religious duties in Islamic mosques. 6. Last but not least, more than 6.000 Muslims over 16 years of age participated in adult education programmes of lifelong learning. These schools called "second class schools" proved to be a great tool to combat illiteracy. Dear President, we are eager to hear other best practices from other areas of the world and see if they can be adopted in Greece as well.