And suddenly, starting on Monday, a wave of school occupations spread across the country, provoking the reaction of Education Minister Andreas Loverdos, who threatened to make up for lost hours on holidays and celebrations.
It all started on Sunday when an event titled "PANHELLENIC OCCUPATION, NO TO THE NEW SYSTEM" appeared on Facebook , through which 194,500 people were invited, of whom 45,315 declared electronically that they would go and 6,501 responded "Maybe", while a corresponding page had also been created, which currently appears to have been taken down and on which, while it was up and running, they informed about the developments of the occupations across Greece , listing all the schools that are under occupation.
"SPREAD IT EVERYWHERE! WE SAY NO TO THE NEW SYSTEM AND WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT...ON NOVEMBER 3 ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED AT NOON, ON THE STREETS IN THE AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.. STUDENTS-PARENTS-TEACHERS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW..SYNTAGMA 2 PM and the rest of the cities in the province or anywhere else, march to their nearest secondary education..", read the initial post on Sunday by the creator of the event, who appears as Yiannis Georgiou.
In a newer post nine hours ago, he states: "500 schools under occupation.. GG WP.
They got our message, so occupation tomorrow and until then. Hold on a few days as we will hold other similar mobilizations like these..
PS: Our goal was to get into the media, and basically we got out all over Greece..
That's from me, now you decide.
PS: If you see a notification, look at it, as it will probably have to do with something different and not with the topic of the page. (The idiot is spamming again, etc. etc.)"
What do students want?
The reason for the sit-ins are the changes that have already been initiated in secondary education with the creation of the Subject Bank, the examination system in Lyceum, but also the general situation prevailing in Education.
In addition to the Facebook page, the blog lemeoxistoneosysthma.blogspot.gr has also been created, in which the following text has been posted, among other things:
"I would like to share with you the problems facing our educational system, so that we can all be informed and united to fight for the best we can. The new Lyceum system is coming with the subject bank. where the student and his critical thinking are set aside, as well as the teachers, and everyone simply becomes executive organs of predetermined instructions, tools of an impersonal syllabus.
The teacher loses the right to manage his material according to the specifics of his class and everyone – especially the students – runs to schools and tutoring centers, burdening their parents financially to cover the much-needed material and pass the exams.
The knowledge that is given to us is no longer personal and adapted to personal needs, but is a knowledge not for learning but for performance, standardized, that those who discipline and parrot it will be ready to occupy positions in the market. Those who want to look a little further than the pages of the book are the maladaptive, the annoying. Those who do not have the money for the tutoring that is now necessary are the “unlucky ones” who do not fit into our sophisticated educational system.
After all this, I consider it necessary to hear our voice, which is not the voice of laziness and missing the lesson, but our fearful voice for all that will come for us without asking us and without counting on us. It should be a struggle and effort.".
Lessons and Easter?
This is not the first time that students have taken to the streets. We would like to remind you that in the previous school year, there were also sit-ins in schools across Greece and the Ministry of Education implemented Presidential Decree No. 170, which states the following:
In the event that the operation of a school unit is interrupted due to occupation for more than three working days, the academic year in the specific school unit is extended for as many days as the occupation lasted beyond the three working days. The interruption of the teaching of courses and/or exams as well as its duration is established by a decision of the relevant Regional Director of Education. By the same decision, which is ratified by the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, the duration of the academic year is extended accordingly and its end time is determined. The losses of teaching hours, resulting from the interruption of the teaching of courses due to occupation for a period of up to three working days, are compensated during the Easter holidays.
The above Presidential Decree is expected to be implemented this year for students in schools that are under occupation.
Loverdos in favor of implementing the presidential decree on lost teaching hours
The Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Andreas Loverdos, on the sidelines of his response to a timely question in Parliament, made the following statement on the issue of school squats:
"This morning, a wave of school sit-ins began. I was informed that the number is not small. I was also informed that this happens every year at this time in view of the Polytechnic's milestone. We have no problem with the mobilizations. However, there is another issue that has to do with the detailed teaching program during the year. There is half a month of the academic year until the Polytechnic. If the sit-in extends, what happens? What subject will go? Is there a law that provides for what happens in these cases. In a difficult year, a series of mobilizations begins that contradicts what students should get from school, what teachers should teach. They told me about about 500 schools. This is a big problem and the fact that it is repeated every year does not interest me. We need to consider what problem is created for the children and the student community. There is a presidential decree that regulates what happens in these cases.".
Source: iefimerida.gr
