Students and Teachers March in Athens for Public Education

Μake us preferred on Google

“I have been a teacher for 35 years, and I cannot afford to buy feta cheese.”

A teacher shared those words at a union meeting, describing the financial pressures facing Greece’s educators.

Public school teachers are in financial distress, yet for those who took to the streets on Wednesday, the issue went beyond wages: it was about an education system struggling with staff shortages, deteriorating school buildings and insufficient funding.

“Why should we spend money on war?” one teacher asked as the march was assembling. “We are literally spending billions on war, rather than using that money to support our public healthcare and education systems.”

These concerns were at the very heart of Wednesday’s nationwide demonstrations, as school pupils, university students and teachers marched across Greece to demand greater state support for public education.

The Primary Teachers’ Federation was on a 24-hour strike while the Federation of Secondary Education Officers (OLME) and the Confederation of Greek Civil Servants’ Trade Unions (ADEDY) held work stoppages.

In Athens, where police put the crowd at about 10,000, To Vima International Edition closely followed the march, speaking with students and educators about the conditions they face and the changes they want to see.

Gathering at the Propylaia

The first and strongest wave of demonstrators was mostly schoolchildren and teachers coming with their schools. They began gathering at the Propylaia, the main entrance of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), in central Athens at around 11 a.m.

To their rear, they were joined by public and private sector workers, special education staff, school nurses, hospital doctors and temporary staff from the Ministry of Culture.

We approached students from the Model Lyceum of Anavryta who had this to say:

“Because there is no proper infrastructure or facilities, we can’t hold classes. We’re in classrooms that don’t even have windows. Plaster is falling off the walls, and we haven’t had a school canteen for two years. We keep waiting and sending letters to the municipality, both us and the school.”

“And they just ignore us all,” someone in the background added.

“We don’t have a psychologist, a principal or a secretary. That’s the situation. The school is operating with an acting principal, and the facilities are not up to the standards expected of a model school.”

As we moved further along the main column towards the head of the march, students from the Iliou Musical School were playing a version of the 1888 L’Internationale.

After the performance, when asked about why they have come to the demonstrations, the music teacher who had been conducting said the following:

“The young people came here; essentially, they invited us to show solidarity with the struggles of young people in France, struggles that are ongoing and will never end. These are struggles shared by all people, over issues that remain unresolved.”

Asked what he would most like to see change, he said:

“I’ll say the simplest thing: let’s start by allocating 15% to education, because funding has fallen at 3% of GDP. That’s it.”

“For them to stop being deaf to us,” a woman beside him added.

Further along the line of marchers, a group of students responded to a question of why they were attending, saying:

“We demand greater funding for public schools. We musicians, in particular, need musical instruments and music books.”

When asked whether or not they face any particular shortage, one student replied:

“Besides instruments, we also lack teachers. Our school buildings are deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance. In general, our infrastructure faces the same problems as those being raised elsewhere in Europe, in France, Italy and Albania.”

While moving among the ranks of the roaring students, the atmosphere was charged and a feeling of solidarity amongst the various groups present prevailed. Around us, students chanted “From Greece to France, we fight for free education,” while further back one could hear: “Teachers aren’t a criminal gang. They’re fighting for free public education.”

At one point, a middle-aged man approached us and asked us about details on the demonstration. He turned out to be a school teacher in Germany, so we had a short conversation with him. We asked him what he believed the biggest issue with education is in Europe at the moment, to which he replied:

“I think there are many factors at play. We need money, we need funding, but we also need smaller individual classes. There is also the concept of ‘Inklusion’ as we call it in Germany. It means that all people get in one class, if they have a handicap or not. But all this needs money, and more teachers, as well smaller classes to be able to give students more personal attention.”

As the protest was advancing, police were to the crowds flanks and back, sometimes in double-file formations. While they were equipped with full riot gear, and while the crowd at times was visibly riled up by their presence, no major incidents took place along the route.

At the foot of the stairs in front of Parliament, when school demonstrations melded together with university student political organizations, we spoke with Thodoris Mavridis, a grade-school teacher in Peristeri and vice-president of the Peristeri Teacher’s Association.

He began with staffing.

“The Ministry itself says that 50,000 teachers will be needed by the end of the year, yet it has only recruited half that number. In other words, it knows that schools have staffing shortages, but it is not hiring enough people. It is like a business that needs 25 employees to operate but decides that, halfway through the year, it will continue working with just 12. That simply cannot work.”

“The pupils who suffer most are those with disabilities and learning difficulties. The necessary staff have not been recruited for special education services, and these pupils are effectively being abandoned.”

Then he turned to the buildings.

“Just this morning, a ceiling collapsed. Take a look at what happened in Heraklion. Part of the roof at the entrance of a secondary school collapsed. Fortunately, the school was closed. Had someone been struck by the falling debris, they could have been killed. This is an everyday occurrence across our schools. Ceilings are collapsing. At the schools in Grava, we have had natural gas leaks. No measures have been taken to ensure proper maintenance or inspections.”

“And this year, we have had another unacceptable development. The Attica Regional Authority issued instructions requiring teachers to certify all the structural problems in their school buildings. In other words, teachers were expected to carry out inspections as though they were plumbers, engineers, civil engineers and electricians.”

The purpose he claims is to shift responsibility away from the authorities in the event of an injury, which given the state of the buildings, he sees as almost inevitable.

He touched upon low wages and lack of funding.

“Everyone is looking for a second or third job. Wages must be increased immediately. They should be doubled, with a minimum of €1,400 for every person, every worker, so that people can cover their basic needs.”

“Whatever increases we end up receiving are taken back, either through taxation or through precarious employment contracts. In reality, we are struggling to survive on scraps.”

“At schools where municipal committees have been abolished, there is not enough money even for toilet paper, let alone a lock or a key, much less the teaching materials we need. Schools are practically falling apart.”

He repeatedly spoke of an atmosphere of intimidation.

“At present, teachers are working under a climate of intimidation, persecution and threats of dismissal. Thousands of unlawful disciplinary proceedings have been brought against workers simply because they are on strike. Strikes have already been announced for November, but we need to act sooner, with sector-wide and nationwide education protests.”

As we thanked him, he smiled. “And I have only told you half of it.”

By mid-afternoon, the last marchers had dispersed at Omonia, and traffic in central Athens was returning to normal.