Thousands Students and Teachers in Greece Take Their Demands to the Streets

Featured image: Students in Athens, Greece, staged a protest demanding that more funds be allocated to education on November 5. Source: Yeni Demokrasi

Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets of Athens on November 5, as part of a nationwide education protest demanding increased government funding, improved school facilities and stronger protections for free public education. Similar demonstrations were organized in Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion and other Greek cities. The students expressed solidarity with other protests in France and elsewhere in Europe through chants, Yeni Demokrasi reports. Slogans such as: “From Greece to France, we fight for free public education” and “Étudier ou survivre?” (“Study or survive?”) were seen and heard. Marchers gathered in the city centre and proceeded to Syntagma Square, in front of Parliament. The secondary-school teachers’ federation supported the demonstration, with teachers taking four hours of work stoppage to enable participation.

Their demands included renovating school buildings, reducing class sizes and hiring more teachers. Protesters also called for greater financial support for education as households contend with rising living costs.

The action followed earlier student protests in September and October that had highlighted the difficulty of finding affordable accommodation, and came amid wider concerns about education and the cost of studying in Greece. At an October march in Athens, students and teachers called for better school facilities, smaller classes and affordable student housing; protests were also reported in Thessaloniki, Patras and other cities. Students camping near Syntagma Square had used tents to draw attention to housing difficulties.