Patras teachers protest significant school staffing shortages

The Association of Primary Education Teachers of Patras has announced a protest following significant teacher shortages in local schools, despite the completion of the second phase of substitute hiring. The association is calling for immediate action to fill vacancies, particularly in special education and parallel support sectors.

According to data released by the association, there are 115 vacancies for teachers providing parallel support and 15 vacancies for kindergarten teachers in the same capacity. Other notable shortages include 7 vacancies in inclusion classes, 12 vacancies in Educational Priority Zones, and various gaps in subjects such as French, Physical Education, Art, English, and Informatics.

The association criticized the Ministry of Education and regional authorities for what they described as “accounting-style management of hours,” emphasizing that students and teachers should not be treated merely as numbers in an Excel spreadsheet. A protest is scheduled to take place at the Regional Directorate of Western Greece in Patras.