Athens, 11/4/2019
Ref. 1379
“Teachers are an oasis in a lasting turmoil” says DOE after the visit to the refugee reception center of Samos island.
Utterly disappointing, unacceptable and miserable conditions observed the Executive Board of DOE during its two days’ visit to the Refugee Reception Center of Samos island. The place with a capacity to accommodate and provide for hardly 800 people, has now reached the incredible sum of 3.805 people, according to official sources. A number, however, which is very much disputed by other reliable sources that estimate it close to six thousand. There are 813 children with the three out of four of them ranging between newborn and 12 years old.
The operation of the kindergarten under indescribable conditions, noticeably lacking even a toilet, and beyond that without any basic teaching material and with 25 children in the class owes greatly to the effort of the staff that exert themselves.
The Executive Board held meetings with the local Education Trade Unions and visited schools, especially those with reception classes for the refugee children and discussed with the teachers the severe everyday problems, both of the staff and of the students, as well as the certain sad events regarding the reaction of the locals that refrained from sending their children to school because there were there refugee children. Productive meetings were also held with parents and other institutions. These meetings brought to light, once more, the inefficacy of the government to find solutions to the whole tragic situation regarding health, social and educational issues.
There has been a strong condemnation of any aggressive behavior targeting either teachers or parents that want to defend the educational rights of all the children, Greek or refugee ones.
This visit proved for another time the already known and widely recognized crucial role of the teachers who in an undeniable way through an incredible zeal and self -denial and without real support make with their work “an oasis in the turmoil”.
All participants, teachers, parents and local community underlined the need of common attitude for a continuous struggle for the overturning of this unacceptable situation demanding, at the same time, in a determined way from the government to execute its duty.
“The fight is for a society of solidarity, of coexistence, and of respect to the human rights.”
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