ate “two-speed” pupils, in principle on the sole criterion
of their place of residence: for minors coming from mass
accommodation sites (in which case they are included
in DYEPs) it is not clear in the applicable framework,207
whether it will be considered that they graduated from a
specific primary school or high school class, so that the
next school year they can enrol regularly in the next grade
(possibly in the regular programme). To the contrary, promotion to the next grade is certain - subject of course to
adequate attendance and performance - for the children
enrolled at the schools of their place of residence or of
intercultural education.
G. In many accommodation sites, we found that the people
responsible for running them and the SEPs had been inadequately informed by the competent ministry and there
was a delay in the start of the operation of the DYEPs,
even though the vaccinations of the children had been
completed in time and preparatory actions had been made
for the integration of the children in education. Thus, it appears that the heads of the sites, the residents or even the
SEPs are not aware when the DYEPs in their area will start
operating and in which schools.
H. A
significant gap in the implementation of the DYEP programme is considered to be the fact that by the end of
2016 the operation of the (branches of) kindergartens
within the accommodation sites had not started, as provided for by law, despite the preparation and the existence of relevant infrastructure in several sites.208
I. Pending, despite the Ombudsman’s repeated interventions
towards the competent ministry, remained up to the end
of 2016 the issue of the school attendance of children
above 15 years old, for which the establishment of DYEPs
had not been foreseen (with Lyceum classes), nor had the
recommendations of the Experts committee been implemented.209
207 An exception appears to be the attendance of kindergarten at the DYEPs,
which did not however operate until the end of 2016 at the accommodation sites,
since attendance is recognised by the law as attendance of a kindergarten branch.
208 Op. cit., document of reply with ref. no. 292/14-2-2017 of the Ministry of
Education, according to which the kindergartens within the accommodation centers
did not operate initially due to a change in the legislation on procurements (therefore
the containers were not procured in time and a new financing source needed to be
found) and delays in the technical control and certification of the suitability of the
existing structures.
209 See letters with ref.No..1500.2/48194/2016 and 1500.2/8335/2017 of
the Greek Ombudsman to the Ministry of Education.
The situation on the Aegean
islands during the 20152016 period had caused the
strong concern of the Greek
Ombudsman, since no DYEP had started operating despite
the large number of children remaining for long periods at
the island Reception and Identification Centers. Certain children however staying in temporary accommodation facilities
for unaccompanied minors and apartments had started during the 2016-2017 period to attend morning schools - this
however was not the rule, especially due to the negative attitude of the local communities and the corresponding hesitation on the part of those in charge.
Access to education
of children residing in
Eastern Aegean islands
With the purpose of informing the
parents of the students already attending morning schools, in relation
to the protection of the health of
their children and in general the
smooth functioning of the schools wherever children refugees were integrated, several initiatives were taken at local
level, as well as through the Ministry. However, the picture
which the Ombudsman has formed shows that in certain
cases there were still significant delays in the enrolment of
the students until the completion of all the vaccinations and
the lapse of an indefinite period of time, due to the lack of
responsible medical information of those in charge, and the
reaction of members of the local communities to the attendance of the children at DYEPs. The later reaction stemmed
to a great extent from the concern - also due to inadequate
preparation and information - regarding the transmission of
diseases to the Greek students using the same facilities
(even though at different times). To this end, the Ombudsman asked the Ministry of Education for information regarding any plan or program on this issue and for the intensification of the efforts. Moreover, the Ombudsman cooperated
with the Hellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention,
contributing in the creation of audiovisual material with the
aim of disseminating the information.210
Information of
parties involved
in the educational
process
Furthermore, it was pointed out to the State that it must
show similar diligence in order to inform and raise the
awareness also of the parents of the children on the move,
who need to know the current legal framework of our country, both as regards compulsory school attendance and other relevant issues (e.g. what happens in the case of inade210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuqLOhLKNJE
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