The students of Kythera High School expressed their strong protest to the Director of Secondary Education, Mr. Anastasopoulos, for the recent developments in their school. Specifically, they complain about the merging of departments and the reassignment of teachers, which violate the legislation due to overcrowding of classes (more than 25 students), while at the same time laboratory activities are abolished and the safety and hygiene of the students is compromised.
The students note that the movement of teachers, such as their philologist at the Gymnasium, creates problems, especially in view of the Panhellenic Examinations, while they demand the reinstatement of teachers and the maintenance of the departments. They demand an immediate solution and reserve the right to take legal action if their demands are not met. Read the students' letter of protest:
Protest of students of Kythira High School
Dear Mr. Anastasopoulos,
As representatives of Kythera High School and being students of the 3rd grade, we want to protest about the latest developments that have taken place in our school, regarding the merger of departments and the rearrangement of our teachers.
Our island, like many others, is a border region and we have always had problems with a shortage of teachers. The fact also that the Lyceum is co-located with the Kythera Gymnasium causes difficulties in the operation of both. This year started for us with three-hour and four-hour classes, as not all the teaching posts in both the Lyceum and the Gymnasium were filled. The High School, it should be noted, has only three teachers (including the Principal). This has an impact, among other things, on the transportation of children from both schools, as the High School had to wait for us to finish at least the four-hour period. The High School, as it should have, reacted to this, but this had a devastating effect on us, since you suggested merging our departments and judged that it was preferable for teachers who are part of the High School teaching staff to work overtime at the High School, covering a few extra hours. As you will already know better than we do, the merger of general education and orientation groups is against the law, as the number of students in C class exceeds 25, A and B classes exceeds 27 (the first class of our school consists of 30 students), B’ consists of 27 students, of which there are students diagnosed with special needs and C’ consists of 26, -a transfer of a C student is pending, which will increase the number to 27-)(Article 116 of Law 4610/2019, 129818/C2/16-09-2013). So, apart from the fact that the law is being circumvented, there are also some individual issues. Laboratory activities in science and computer science are automatically abolished, since the respective laboratories cannot accept such a large number of students. Then, our safety is at stake. It is not possible to have thirty people crammed into classrooms that are not suitable for so many students and our physical integrity is at stake, as there is always the risk of an earthquake, since Kythera is an earthquake-prone area.Apart from safety, there is also the issue of hygiene, which in the case of these ’measures“ will be put at risk and therefore there will be a huge increase in diseases, also given the new law that limits the absences of students to 74 excused and 40 unexcused absences. Consequently, children will even be forced to come to school sick with the corresponding impact on other students.
It also happens that in our school we have children diagnosed by official agencies with special educational needs and/or disabilities that will be under great psychological stress from such a change and the chances of them exhibiting more violent behaviour or failing to perform are increased due to the noise that will be created in a class of thirty teenagers. So we call for the implementation of the legislation (Article 11 of Law 4452/2017) and the separation of class B into 2 sections.
Regarding the issue of our high school teachers, we have been informed that some of them will be transferred to the high school, even though they have already started classes with us, to fill the gaps in the high school, which does not solve the problem of the high school, but rather transfers it to the high school, which will need more teachers than before. In particular, among other things, the sudden move - ’snatching’ of our Philology teacher causes a huge issue especially in the orientation groups (C,B Lyceum). This of course creates a problem for us who in 2025 will take national examinations and do not have equal access to universities, as well as in the B and the crucial A Lyceum. But the big blow will be suffered by the students, especially those who cannot afford to pay a tutorial to teach them what the public, Greek school is supposed to offer for free and can even deprive them of their dreams of a good academic career.
In summary, our demands are as follows:
- Maintaining the 6 sections, 2 per class in our school.
- Keep the high school teachers as they were assigned in the first place.
- Appoint new teachers to fill the vacancies
We believe, Mr.Anastasopoulos, as the Director of Secondary Education, that you will set an example to us, the future citizens, by finding the ideal solution to this problem immediately. We say NO to the merging of departments and the rearrangements of teachers that are made at our expense, and we reserve, we and our parents, all our legal rights... Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Students of Kythira High School
