Education funding and household affordability drove a nationwide Greek protest on Wednesday as students, teachers and public employees joined rallies and work stoppages over costs and school conditions.
ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster, estimated about 10,000 marchers in Athens and reported additional demonstrations in Thessaloniki and Patras. AFP reported police put the Athens turnout at no fewer than 5,000.
The Greek Primary Teachers’ Federation called a 24-hour strike. OLME, the secondary school teachers’ federation, held a three-hour work stoppage, while civil servants and state hospital doctors also stopped work.
OLME said secondary schools faced a nationwide shortage of 15,000 teachers. The union wants more staff, safer school buildings and higher wages. Eurostat data show Greece devoted 3.3% of GDP to public education in 2023, compared with 4.7% across the European Union.
Students called for lower rents, more dormitory places and broader housing assistance. The march followed student tent protests in Athens and Thessaloniki on Oct. 20, continuing calls for housing relief that EconoTimes reported earlier.
AFP reported that a 14-year-old student was hurt earlier in October after ceiling material fell in a classroom in Thermi, near Thessaloniki. Seventeen-year-old student Yiannis Papanikolaou told AFP that school buildings were poorly maintained, citing fallen plaster, broken windows and faulty radiators.
The demonstrations drew inspiration from protests in France, AFP reported. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Oct. 19, according to AFP, that Greece should not return to the social unrest associated with its financial-crisis years.
Katia Koubousidou, head of a student union at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told AFP, “This will not be a one-off protest,” adding that students planned further demonstrations.
