2024

Formulation of a national framework for the professional development of teachers

An integrated framework of high quality initial education and training and continuous in-service training and professional development for teachers that includes:

• System for diagnosing training needs (part of which is teacher evaluation),

• System of design, certification and implementation of training programmes.

   

Training of teachers through the new Integrated Information System for the Support of Training Activities (ITS)

Teacher training will be implemented with the help of ITS and through close cooperation with the Institute of Educational Policy/National Centre for Public Administration & Self-Government (IEP/EKKDA)
The new Integrated Training Support Information System (ITS) was completed in 2021, aiming to automate and ensure the processes followed to provide certified training to all.
Indicative Training Objectives for 2024:

• Differentiated Teaching
• Digital Skills

Special education

• Creation of curricula for special Education
• Creation of curricula for special education school structures, appropriately weighted according to the type of special educational needs.
• Promotion of a new framework law for special education as a whole, including the reform of par-allel support.
• Formulation of an effective framework for the functioning of structures and institutions applied in all structures.
• Upgrading the role of the Integration Zones and establishing new ones on the basis of an evaluation study
• Emphasis on inclusive/inclusive education as the basic principle for the organisation and functioning of schools and education systems.
• Design of actions in the framework of the Strategic Action Plan for equal access to education and training for people with disabilities
• Full Day Primary SchoolContinuation of the implementation of the new upgraded full-day elementary school pro-gram (article 371, Law 4957/2022, Government Gazette 141/A). The new educational pro-gram for 2024 includes upgraded content through groups of activities such as educational robotics, experiments, rhetorical art, safe and creative Internet navigation, sports, traditional or modern dances, visual arts, crafts and constructions, learning musical instruments. Addi-tional time for learning, study and play at school is also provided.
• Extending the implementation of all-day primary school until 17:30 and extending its im-plementation to kindergartens and primary schools throughout the country.

Reinforcement of the all-day primary school

• Continuation of the implementation of the new upgraded all-day elementary school program law 4957/2022. The new educational pro-gram for 2024 includes upgraded content through groups of activities such as educational robotics, experiments, rhetorical art, safe and creative Internet navigation, sports, traditional or modern dances, visual arts, crafts and constructions, learning musical instruments. Addi-tional time for learning, study and play at school is also provided.
• Extending the implementation of all-day primary schools until 17:30 and extending its im-plementation to kindergartens and primary schools throughout the country.

Standard - experimental schools

Expansion of the number of model and experimental schools to 180 by 2027.

School bullying

Development of a special programme on school bullying and a national strategy against juvenile violence. Min. Decision 12399/ΓΔ4/2023 provides for the development of a special platform where all cases of school  bullying will be reported, monitored and dealt with. Pursuant this provision a scientific board is currently working on establishing protocols for the evaluation, prevention, handling of individual cases of school violence, This involves close cooperation with the school leadership and the establishment of a platform where all cases will be reported. Access to the platform is through the link: https://stop-bullying.gov.gr/

National programme for the upgrading of school building infrastructure

• National programme for upgrading the building infrastructure of the country's schools, based on the mapping of the Technical Chamber of Greece.
• Collection of data on the condition of school buildings.
• Prioritising interventions, solving housing needs.

Digitisation of all educational content

Digitisation of all educational content, from the first primary to the third high school, with the participation of teachers, in order to make it accessible to every student in the country.

National school leaving certificate

Establishment of a national school leaving certificate. This entails launching a dialogue for a commonly accepted way of accessing universities, compatible with both international trends and the requirements of the nationwide examinations that take place at the end of the school year for entrance to Higher Education Institutes.

New study programmes

• The emphasis is shifting from the subject matter, teachers, lecturers and the teaching process to students and the intended/expected learning outcomes. The new General Education Curricula will be universally implemented in 2024, following relevant training and develop-ment of the multiple textbook.
  Significant changes to 166 curricula, changes that will continue in the same forward direc-tion.
• Introduction of the artificial intelligence course,
• Teaching of whole books in the literature course, 
• Innovative teaching methods in Ancient Greek and Language courses
• Strengthening art education.

Multiple Book

The new books, together with the complementary digital material as an integral part of them, will be available in digital format in September 2024 and in print format in September 2025

Robotic workshops and interactive whiteboards

Installation of robotic laboratories and interactive whiteboards in all schools in the country.

2023

Prevention and response to violence and bullying

The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, at central and regional level, develops actions and programmes with the aim of preventing, identifying and addressing school bullying, as well as strengthening relationships of trust between members of the educational community (Law 5029/2023). Actions and programmes include in particular:

• the training of teachers, parents or guardians and students, including the advisory guidance of teachers on methods of recognizing incidents of intra-school violence and bullying,
• the development of relevant actions, programmes and educational material,
• the preparation of scientific research,
• the establishment of collaborations between the competent services of the Ministry with all kinds of bodies and structures,
• the sending to all schools of guidelines on how to manage incidents of discrimination
• threats and bullying directed at students who belong to vulnerable groups due to race, disability, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, identity, expression, gender or marital status characteristics.

The law 5029/2023 foresees, among others, the creation of a special digital platform, where students and parents will be able to submit reports on incidents of intra-school violence and bullying. The School Head will manage these incidents, in close cooperation with the School Life Counselor and a group of psychologists, social workers and other specialists.

2022

All–day primary school – all-day kindergarten (Law 4957/2022)

The all-day primary school, for the 2022/23 school year, offers extended school hours until 5.30 pm (up to 2 hours extra). The programme will be implemented as a pilot in approximately 50% of the classes that operate today as all-day, i.e. in almost 5,000 classes in Athens, Thessaloniki and other regions.

Students participate in new activities such as:

• robotics,
• experiments,
• rhetoric,
• world wide web,
• sports,
• traditional or modern dances,
• visual arts,
• crafts and constructions,
• musical instruments.

The new all-day Primary School programme extends the teaching time for study/preparation in language and mathematics, while enriching it with a significant number of creative and engaging activities. The extension of the optional all-day programme in Kindergarten aims to provide quality and creative learning experiences through play, to creatively utilise children's free time, and also to support the family and especially working parents. Children are provided with the possibility of free expression and creative interaction, and, ultimately, development of communication skills.

National diagnostic examinations

National diagnostic examinations in Modern Greek Language and Mathematics in 3^rd grade of Lower Secondary Education (Gymnasium) were implemented for the first time in 2022. These examinations were conducted as a pilot in a stratified sample of 300 Primary Schools and 300 Lower Secondary Schools with a total of 6,000 Primary and 6,000 High School students.

The examinations are carried out simultaneously in the selected school units. A platform has been created by the Institute of Educational Policy for communication with the sample schools, as well as for transmission of the topics.

The purpose of the National Diagnostic Examinations is to draw conclusions about the implementation of the Curricula, and the achievement of the expected learning outcomes at national level. The results of the exams are anonymous and are not taken into account by the teachers when evaluating the performance of students.

These diagnostic tests are used for informed decision-making on improvement interventions in the curricula, educational materials, teaching and learning approaches, inclusive/compensatory education practices and, finally, for the development of educational activities focused on the difficulties faced by students.

Textbooks

Joint Ministerial Decision 160159/GD4/2022 (Government Gazette 6712 Β) establishes, in collaboration with the Institute for Educational Policy and the Diophantus Institute of Computer Technology and Publications, the creation, organization, operation and technical support of the Textbook Registry and the digital Textbook Library. This is the initial stage of implementation of the reform for the Multi-Book.

The multi-book enables teachers to choose the textbook they wish to teach from in the classroom, while, at the same time, all approved textbooks will be available in a digital library, so that our students may combine knowledge from different sources of information in order to cultivate their critical thinking.