10-08-16 All-day schools nationwide and vocational, special education overhaul at heart of reforms

Education, Research and Religious Affairs Minister Nikos Filis outlined the ministry’s step-by-step reform programme in an interview with veteran journalist Marianna Pyrgioti of Paraplolitika FM radio.

Noting that in the past the state schools had accomplishments as well as problems, Filis blamed the policies of Greece’s creditors – with firing of teachers and the closure and merging of schools – with the further decline of the already troubled state education system. In most instances, fired or retiring teachers were not  replaced.

The minister also protested longstanding attacks on the quality of state education, noting that state school graduates routinely receive distinctions, and underlined that the paramount aim is to upgrade state schools at all levels.

Declaring that education reforms will focus on self-evident changes, Filis said one of the key reforms is the spread of all-day schools throughout the country, supported by generous EU funding.

Asked about the one-hour reduction in teaching hours during the basic school day programme, Filis denied that this was to save money on the hiring of substitutes (he said 21,000 will be hired this year) but due to educational choices. He said a seven-hour day was too much for students aged 7, 8 and nine, for example, especially in cases where schools are housed in non-functional buildings. “It is exhausting for children,” he said.

Denying charges that the government wants to lash out at private schools for ideological reasons, Filis noted that about 400 new private schools are opening, above and beyond the 1,500 existing ones.

He also reiterated the need for state oversight of teacher employment conditions at private schools and at the ubiquitous frontistiria tutoring schools.

He defended the requirement that private schools provide a mandatory rationale for the lay-off of any teacher, and the requirement that extra teaching programme hours be declared so as to be taxed.

“There are excellent private schools and then there are pirate private schools [which do not play by the rules]. If I applied the letter of the law, I would have shut down 200 [of about 1,500] private schools for various reasons. Instead, I sent encyclicals requiring their improvement,” Filis later said.

Underlining the ministry’s dedication to improving and expanding special education, Filis said that for the first time special education classes are being created in junior and senior high schools, reflecting current theories calling for integration of special education students in regular schools.

The minister painted a grim picture of junior high schools (gymnasia), conceding that for decades they have operated as centres of testing rather than learning. The plethora of exams has served to expand and enrich private tutoring centres (frontistiria), the costs of which are a tremendous burden for Greek families. “We will grapple with that, not in an administrative manner, but by implementing reforms to upgrade state schools,” he said.

“We are in fact not cutting teaching time. We are increasing it, by rationalising the testing system and reducing exam time, thus increasing teaching time. Is that irrational?” the minister asked.

Confronted by reporter Pyrgioti’s assertion that one finds junior high school and high school graduates  without basic knowledge of spelling and syntax, Filis said the ministry is mulling a four-year general education junior high school model [providing a strong grounding in the humanities and sciences] followed by a two-year high school in which students will specialise in a subject area in-depth ahead of university studies.

In the interview, the minister made clear the huge problems at vocational high schools, which have been entirely neglected for years, and he outlined the ministry’s plan to upgrade them with a radical curriculum reform that abolishes specialisation in the first year of studies. Instead the first year will offer solid general education courses, combined with a vocational orientation. In the second year one will choose the area of concentration, while the third year will be devoted to specialisation.

In another key move to upgrade the professional value of a vocational high school diploma, graduates will be offered a one-year paid internship, in cooperation with the state-run OAED  labour, with social insurance also provided.