Greece: Students march in Athens demanding more education funding
Thousands of pupils, students and teachers marched through central Athens on Thursday in a nationwide push for better-funded schools, joining a protest wave that has spread from France across southern Europe.
On a chilly morning in Athens, students took to the streets, rallying for increased education funding. The demonstration commenced at 11am outside the University of Athens, swiftly moving towards Syntagma Square, where a sea of protesters gathered in front of Parliament. Clinging to banners that read "From Greece to France, we fight for free public education" and carrying French-inspired signs that read "Study or survive?" – a direct reference to the school student protest movement in France – the crowd's message was clear.
Outside Parliament, a group of protesters went a step further, dumping sacks of rubble from dilapidated schools to illustrate the dire conditions students face. Broken windows, leaking roofs, crumbling plaster, and malfunctioning radiators were all highlighted as part of the issue. Police estimated that around 4,000 protesters flooded the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki combined, a figure significantly lower than the 20,000 that marched in 50 Greek cities on October 21; the organizers contested this number.
The students were not merely expressing dissatisfaction; they were making concrete demands. They sought more state funding for education, urgent inspections and repairs of the crumbling school buildings, permanent positions to address thousands of vacant teaching roles, smaller class sizes, and the withdrawal of new national exams. Perhaps most significantly, they called for the removal of Article 16 from the constitution, a provision that safeguards public higher education.
The union representing secondary teachers, OLME, organized a four-hour strike beginning at 10am to give educators a chance to participate in the march. The underlying cause for this protest, as the students made clear, was the burden of living costs. Many students were forced to pay exorbitant rents of 800 euros per month, and with these financial pressures, numerous could no longer afford any form of education. The unions were thus demanding a monthly housing allowance and the implementation of rent caps.
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