AN OVERVIEW OF THE GREEK EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Brian Agnew NJ
Greek Educational System in a diagram (I) 2
• 6 months – 3years old: Education and care for children under 3 years old is provided at child centres and at Pre-Primary 'infant' centres – the latter from 6 months of age - Nursery • 4 – 5 years old: Children aged 4 years may attend public or private pre-primary schools – Kindergarten till the Pre-primary Education age of 5 years.
Kindergarten
Primary education
• 6 - 12 years old: From the age of 6 years till the age of 12 years children attend primary school
Greek Educational System in a diagram (II) 3
Lower Secondary Education
Upper Secondary Education
Higher Education
• 13 – 15 years old: From the age of 13 years till the age of 15 years children attend gymnasium (Lower Secondary Education) • 16 – 18 years old: General Lyceum: general/academic studies - Technical Vocational Lyceum: general/vocational studies
• 18 years old -…. University sector: (Universities, Polytechnics, Schools of Fine Arts, Open University) and the Technological sector (Technological Educational Institutions/ΑΤEIs)
Greek Educational System in a diagram (III) 4
post-secondary level
Education and special needs
• a) vocational training schools for teenagers of 16-18 years (EPAS) b) Post-secondary non-tertiary institutes18 + years of age (IEK) offer 4 semesters of initial vocational training
• mainstream or special schools and extends from the pre-primary years to the age of 23
The following diagram outlines the structure of the Greek Educational System as established by institutions of formal, classified and unclassified education. 5
Compulsory Education in Greece 6
Compulsory Education (5 to 15 years of age)
Pre-primary (5 – 6 years)
Primary (6 – 12 years)
Lower Secondary (12 – 15 years)
School’s Calendar 7
175 school days from the 11th of September to the 15th of June
During the last month of the school year (15 May – 15 June) pupils in gymnasiums and lyceums take final exams
Schools are open 5 days a week for 35 weeks a year
Lessons from 8:15 to 14:05
23 to 35 lesson hours per week. Each hour lasts from 40 to 45 minutes. 10-minute breaks
Schools closes for the Christmas and Easter holidays. Also, they close for summer holidays for approximately 2 months
Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary schools Curriculum in Primary Schools 8
History
Environmental Geography Studies
Religious issues
Science
Art
English
Greek language
PE
ICT (some schools)
Mathematics Second Foreign Lang.
Social and Civic studies
Curriculum in Lower Secondary Schools History
Chemistry/ Geography Physics
Religious issues
Biology
Home economics
ICT / Aesthetics Technology (Music/Arts)
Foreign Lang.
PE
Ancient & Modern Greek
Civil and Social Studies
Geography
Vocational Mathematic Guidance s
Curriculum in General Lyceum - Exams 9
General Lyceum: general education subjects, such as Modern and Ancient Greek language and literature, History, Mathematics, Science, Religious issues, foreign languages, Informatics, Social Sciences, Physical Education
Specialization subjects (Astronomy, etc.)
National examinations (they determine who will continue their studies in universities and who will not)
Curriculum in Technical Vocational Lyceum - Exams 10
Technical Vocational Lyceum: not only general education lessons (such as Greek language, math, foreign language etc), but also lessons relevant to special vocations
Emphasis on the specific subjects students have chosen
National exams. Students either continue in higher education or they take a job certificate relevant to the subject of their studies (such as car mechanic, crafts man etc)
Administration of primary and secondary education The 13 Regions of Greece and the 52 prefectures
Administration Chart Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports
13 Regional Education Directorates (one in each region – see the map)
Directorates of Education
School Units: (School Heads with the board of teachers serve as the administrative and educational heads of the school Units)
Higher Education: Universities
Universities and Higher Technological Institutes in several cities of Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Herakleion, Ioannina etc) Greek Open University
Mathematics Department
University of Ioannina Library
University of Ioannina campus
Student’s Restaurant In the entrance of University campus
University of Ioannina Logo
Higher Education: Technical Educational Institutes 13
Higher Technological Education's role is to contribute to the
development process in the country and progress of science and applied research
The training is geared to assimilation and transfer of scientific data in production
Studies at Technical Colleges compared with those at the universities have more applied nature. In Greece there are 15 Colleges, which consist of two (2) at least Faculties, which contain two or more Sections
TEIs operating in various cities of the country, while some also have independent branches, ie independent departments in another city
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