Greek Left Coalition warns of potential decline in teacher recruitment

The Greek Left Coalition (EL. A. S.) has raised concerns regarding the government's plan for teacher recruitment for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year. The political group is questioning the sufficiency of proposed staffing levels, focusing on the announcement of 5,487 permanent appointments and approximately 30,000 substitute teacher hires.

According to the coalition, the 30,000 announced substitutes represent only about 80% of the total planned hires for the year. Based on this calculation, they estimate the total number of substitutes will be around 37,500, which would be roughly 10,000 fewer than the nearly 48,000 substitutes hired during the 2025-2026 school year. The group expressed concern that this reduction could exacerbate existing shortages in general education and special education, particularly in parallel support services.

Additionally, the coalition criticized Deputy Minister of Education Nikolaos Papaioannou's statement that teachers would be in schools by September 11, noting that school operations officially commence on September 1.