# Public Elementary School in Greece



## expat914 (Oct 9, 2009)

I would like to know if any other mothers/fathers have English speaking children in the public Greek school system. If so, what differences have you experienced in comparison to your home country?


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## mrsDayLewis (Nov 18, 2008)

If you can afford it, RUN dont walk - to get your child into private education in Greece. The (state)standards here are well below western Europe or north Americas. It is standard practice here for kids in state schools to hire tutors for almost every subject, because the school day is short, noisy, crowded and less than adequate. 
I know two 17 year olds in school here, and of the ex pats I know - all send their kids to the English speaking schools for a more thorough education.
PS. Teachers go on strike here too!
PPS. One of the teens I know says that (due to cuts)they wont have text books this year, just burned CDs of the materials for their home laptops!


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## expat914 (Oct 9, 2009)

Last year we sent our son to a private PreK. I loved it. 

This year my son is in Kindergarten and we thought we would try to put him in the public school so he will get to know the kids he lives near. So far, I'm not happy. I expressed my concern about my son (He started speaking Greek less than a year ago), and the teacher told me not to worry because he will learn from the kids. I'm sorry, but that is a poor answer. Of course he will pick things up from the kids, but I wanted to know what the teacher will do. The teacher also seems more concerned with the fact that I pack a sandwich (Toast as they say here) everyday instead of cooking "fresh" food and bringing it to him during lunch time. Yes, they do go on strike quite a lot. I'm also concerned about this. The schools here are very different from the states. I'm having a hard time accepting it.


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

It is true that textbooks are in short supply but the ministry CLAIMS that they will be distributed over the course of the fall. Teachers have kept copies of previous years' books, and of course anyone who has an older sibling does as well. In my opinion this is a stupid problem created because no one insisted that the books be returned at the end of the year and reused (something I grew up with and consider totally normal - considered unacceptable here although starting to be discussed more now). My husband's school has asked previous students to contribute their old books.

In my opinion, the best places to be for public education are small and medium sized cities and the suburbs of large cities. Villages, small islands, and remote areas commonly have severe personnel shortages (for example an elementary school may have a single teacher covering grades 1,2,3,4,5,&6, or two teachers). The middle and high schools often lack teachers in certain areas- not mathematics, Greek, and physics, but often there will be no one to teach theology, German, music, art, etc. In large cities like Athens and Thessaloniki there are problems with overcrowding, insufficient facilities, and at least in my husband's experience in Athens, large numbers of immigrant children who have difficult home lives, poor Greek, and high absenteeism. 

The striking issue will depend very much on the location. In my husband's school last year none of the teachers went on strike with the exception of the woman who was the union rep for the school. Teachers are poorly paid; one of my husband's colleagues (the French teacher, an 'anaplirotis meiomenou orariou') made €200/month, which was less than her rent. When they strike, they aren't paid. Most can't afford to lose the pay. In places like Athens, they may be able to take part in demonstrations, which can serve as a motivation to strike, but again it's a personal decision. It's quite possible that your 4th grade son's teacher will be working and your 1st grade daughter's teacher will be on strike. Most teachers' strikes are short (1-2 days) which has made them very ineffective, and has led many teachers to abandon the effort. The general feeling among teachers seems to be that the only kind of teachers' strike that could have any effect would be one lasting several weeks, but the union will not call such a strike, so there is very little point in participating and losing one's pay. 

I unfortunately haven't really seen strong indications that private education is much better.


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## mrsDayLewis (Nov 18, 2008)

wka said:


> It is true that textbooks are in short supply but the ministry CLAIMS that they will be distributed over the course of the fall. Teachers have kept copies of previous years' books, and of course anyone who has an older sibling does as well. In my opinion this is a stupid problem created because no one insisted that the books be returned at the end of the year and reused (something I grew up with and consider totally normal - considered unacceptable here although starting to be discussed more now). My husband's school has asked previous students to contribute their old books.
> 
> In my opinion, the best places to be for public education are small and medium sized cities and the suburbs of large cities. Villages, small islands, and remote areas commonly have severe personnel shortages (for example an elementary school may have a single teacher covering grades 1,2,3,4,5,&6, or two teachers). The middle and high schools often lack teachers in certain areas- not mathematics, Greek, and physics, but often there will be no one to teach theology, German, music, art, etc. In large cities like Athens and Thessaloniki there are problems with overcrowding, insufficient facilities, and at least in my husband's experience in Athens, large numbers of immigrant children who have difficult home lives, poor Greek, and high absenteeism.
> 
> ...


Well, my GREEK friend who is on a family budget of 800€ a month, sacrifices to send her son to Byron School... he is a teenager now, and has a very good education there with other Greek and expat kids... She believes its def worth it.


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## trouble (Nov 6, 2009)

My soon to be 8 year old daughter has been in the Greek state education system since she was 4 years old. Kindergarten was great, she learnt to speak Greek and was stimulated throughout the day. Since starting primary however it has been a different matter. Apart from learning to read and write Greek she doesn't seem to be getting anything else out of it!
She has just started her 3rd year and the headteacher says text books probably won't arrive until Christmas! Her teachers have just told us that she is at least 2 years' ahead of every one else in her class and is getting bored in every subject so now we're looking to send her to a private school - it's either that or move country!


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi trouble, I don't think I've seen posts from you before - WELCOME to the forum! I see you're on Skopelos. We lived on a tiny island for the last couple years and just this summer moved to the mainland. I hope you're enjoying your island life


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## trouble (Nov 6, 2009)

Aaah, I'll change that now! We were on Skopelos but now we're on the mainland - we moved last summer


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## YannisBoston (Mar 21, 2016)

*Any updates?*

It's been a while since the last posting on this thread, but my family and I are going to be stationed in Athens in about a year (Spring 2017), and so was hoping to find out more about schools. 

We have two kids who will be 5-1/2 and 7-1/2 when we are there. I'd really like them to be instructed in Greek, if at all possible; are there private schools for that? In central Athens? Or is our best bet to use one of the English-language schools and supplement with private tutoring / nannying for language development? Both of our kids are really good at languages, and have a basic ability in Greek, so I'm not concerned about linguistic barriers. They get along perfectly well with other kids when we visit Greece in the summer.

From what I can gather, the younger one would probably fit into the nursery/kindergarden schools. Any suggestions out there? What should we do with the older one?

Thanks!


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## Me2017 (Jan 8, 2017)

mrsDayLewis said:


> Well, my GREEK friend who is on a family budget of 800€ a month, sacrifices to send her son to Byron School... he is a teenager now, and has a very good education there with other Greek and expat kids... She believes its def worth it.


Hello, I just want it to mention that if you are on a budget 800 it is impossible to send the child to Byron College. I have a child there and planning to move cause school luck facilities and cost almost the same as well established schools with history. No gim , no dining area, no proper computer lab. Many kids are admitted ( upper classes) without any previous knowledge of English. This school is suatable for expats that are in Greece for a very short time.


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