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Main providers

Greece

8.Adult education and training

8.3Main providers

Last update: 31 October 2024

The Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports oversees several public structures that provide adult education and training. These include:

  1. Second Chance Schools (Scholeia defteris efkairias-SDE) are general education schools of formal education supervised by the General Secretariat of Vocational Education,Training and Lifelong Learning. SDE schools address adults aged 18 and above who have not completed compulsory education and wish to resume studies and aqcuire a certificate equivalent to the school leaving certificate. There are currently 66 Second Chance Schools (and 22 Branches) across Greece, some of which located in detention centres.
  2. Higher Vocational Training Schools (Scholes Anoteris Epangelmatikis Katartisis- SAEK): These institutes offer initial vocational training to graduates of formal, non-compulsory secondary education, whether from general or vocational upper secondary schools. There are 128 public SAEK overseen by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports.
  3. Public Lifelong Learning Centres (Dimosia Kentra Dia Viou Mathisis-KDVM): These centres offer continuous vocational training, reskilling, upskilling, general adult education, vocational guidance, and lifelong learning counselling. The framework for the establishment, licensing, and operation of KDVM was set by l. 4763/2020. Prior to this, lifelong learning programs were typically carried out at the municipal level using European funding, rather than through solid public structures.
  4. Centers for Training and Life Long Learning/KEDIVIM within Higher Education Institutions, which form Institutionsal units that ensure coordination and multidisciplinary cooperation concerning the development of programs for training, continuous education and training and life long learning. Centers for Training and Life Long Learning operate in 23 Higher Education Institutions.   
  5. The Hellenic Open University (supervised by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports)  is over time, the primary institution that provides distant-learning higher education studies in Greece (undergraduate, postgraduate, and training) by developing and making use of the appropriate materials and teaching methods. More information on the above-mentioned providers is provided in section 8.4.

 In addition to these institutions, there are other providers of lifelong learning programs that operate at national, regional, or local levels. These providers include:

  •  organisations that offer general adult education. These organisations may be social, religious or cultural.
  • vocational counseling bodies, that may offer career guidance and 
  • general public domain bodies offering non-formal learning to public sector employees. 

 such as the National Centre for Public Administration and Local Government (EKDDA), as well as to other professional associations and chambers  like the  Small Enterprises Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (IME-GSEBEE), and various bodies established by trade unions. However, this field remains largely uncharted according to experts.