Alyssa Paul

Educational Movement in Greece

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in

every society, in every family (Annan, 1997). The United Nations Secretary General

emphasizes the importance of education and knowledge in the world in this 1997 press

conferences. Since then, the United Nations has launched a five year Global Education First

Initiative that began in September of 2012, just over five years ago now. The first major goal of

this initiative was putting every child into school which could be accomplished by making school

more accessible and limiting restrictions that keep children from enrolling. The second goal was

to improve the overall quality of education across the globe throughout the five years. The final

goal was to foster global citizenship. Nations across the world participated in this initiative and

strived to meet these goals over the last five years and Greece is no exception.

Greek education has made strides since it established its independence in 1827 and

adopted a republic in 1923. Schooling is mandatory for children between the ages of six and

fifteen but there are options for schooling for all ages. Children can start as young as two and a

half years old if parents choose to enroll them in preschool which is offered both publicly and

privately and is known as vrefonipiakoi paidikoi stathmi. Children then begin kindergarten and

elementary school, otherwise known as primary education (known as dimotiko in Greek). They

then move on to lower secondary school, or middle school (known as gymnasio in Greek). These

primary and secondary schools are always moving for improvement, developing interactive and

updated curriculum and setting discipline for students.

 Although Greece only enforces education up to the age of fifteen, the country encourages

that adolescents continue with their education through the remainder of high school and onto

higher education such as college. There are both university options and vocational schools that

aim to increase flexibility and accessibility by the vast majority of young adults and adults who

wish to further their educations. Higher education has already and continues to broaden its

horizons to offer a greater range of classes and degrees accessible to students. Greece also offers

options such as Lifelong Learning to encourage students to further their educations even after

college as well as Second Chance Adult Educations centers for adults who dropped out of school

at any point.

Greece has made efforts to meet all three of the top priorities outlined by the Global

Education First Initiative over the last five years and so on. Making education more accessible

helps encourage every child to attend school, improving the quality of learning happens every

day as they continually develop new lessons and updated curriculum, and fostering global

citizenship happens as classrooms teach students about the world around them and encourage

them to be a part of it. Education is truly the backbone of our world today and even more so of

the future to come and this initiative has pushed Greece to make education a greater priority, as it

should be. By doing this, the overall quality of life in Greece has been improving and can

potentially change the whole future of Greece. Education is the hope that things can change, they

can get better, and Greece may be able to pull itself out of the crisis it has been struggling with in

past years by placing education as a priority rather than on the back burner.
 Highest Education Level Attained (2012)

2012 Highest Education Level Attained Greece, NY New York United States
(Population Age 25+)

Did Not Complete High School 12.24% 15.12% 13.90%

Completed High School 30.67% 26.62% 27.74%

Some College 24.41% 16.63% 21.45%

Completed Associate Degree 10.98% 8.32% 7.76%

Completed Bachelors Degree 11.52% 18.92% 18.25%

Completed Graduate Degree 9.25% 10.27% 7.67%

Greece on average has relatively higher percentages than the United States does. The dropout

rate is just over 1% lower and there are a higher percentage of completed Associates Degrees

and Graduate Degrees. However, the United States trumps Greece when it comes to completed

Bachelors Degrees.

This chart shows the basic outline of the Greek educational system starting with pre-primary
(preschool) and going through higher education.
 Works Cited:
Greece, NY Education Level Profile and Enrollment Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 07,
2017, from https://www.clrsearch.com/Greece-Demographics/NY/Education-Level-and-
Enrollment-Statistics
Annan, K. 'IF INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE ARE CENTRAL TO DEMOCRACY, THEY ARE
CONDITIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT', SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL | Meetings Coverage and Press
Releases. (n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from
http://www.un.org/press/en/1997/19970623.sgsm6268.html
The Greek Educational System. (n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from
http://www.fulbright.gr/en/study-in-greece/the-greek-educational-system
(2007). Retrieved from http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Greece