to upper secondary (Lyceum) that last three years.1107 Children applicants of international protection are obliged to attend school and competent authorities are obliged to provide the necessary and adequate means to support and facilitate the relevant procedure. Before the age of 4, children can also attend infant centres (vrefonipiakos stathmos from 6 months old) and child centres (paidikos stathmos – from 2 1/2 years old) run by private entities and the municipalities.1108 The Asylum Code does not mention education as a right but as an obligation. Registering children at school is possible even in case of incomplete documentation, as long as no removal measure against minors or their parents is actually enforced. Access to secondary education shall not be withheld for the sole reason that the child has reached the age of maturity. Registration is to take place no longer than 3 months from the identification of the child, while non-compliance on behalf of the applicants, on account of a potential “unwillingness to be included in the education system” is subject to the reduction of material reception conditions and to the imposition of the administrative sanctions foreseen for Greek citizens to the adult members of the minor’s family.1109 Joint Ministerial Decision139654/ΓΔ4 (Β' 2985/30.08.2017) regulates a programme of afternoon preparatory classes (Reception School Facilities for Refugee Education – DYEP classes / Δομές Υποδοχής και Εκπαίδευσης Προσφύγων - ΔΥΕΠ) for all school-aged children aged 4 to 15.1110 The programme is implemented in public schools neighbouring camps or places of residence. The organisation, operation, coordination and training program of DYEP classes is supervised by the Refugee Education Management, Coordination and Monitoring Team, as defined by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the competent Directorates of the Ministry of Education, the competent Regional Directorates of Education and the competent Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education.1111 The location and operationalisation of the afternoon preparatory classes is subject to the yearly issuance of a Decision by the Deputy Minister of Education. Such decisions have been respectively issued for each school year up to the current school year 2024-2025.1112 Children aged between 6-15 years, living in dispersed urban settings (such as squats, apartments, hotels, and reception centres for asylum applicants and unaccompanied children), may go to schools near their place of residence, to enrol in the morning classes alongside Greek children, at schools that will be identified by the Ministry. This is done with the aim of ensuring a balanced distribution of children across selected schools, as well as across preparatory classes for migrant and refugee children where Greek is taught as a second language.1113 Although the refugee education programme implemented by the Ministry of Education is highly welcome, the school attendance rate should be reinforced, while special action should be taken in order for children remaining on the islands and in remote camps to be guaranteed access to education. Language is also a barrier for refugee and asylum-seeking children to integrate into school. The creation of reception classes is foreseen by law, but in practice, these classes do not always start on time due to understaffing or to their insufficient number, leading children who do not understand Greek to be practically excluded from the educational system, because they encounter great difficulties to understand the subjects taught. In a Save the Children report published in January 2024, children in Greece stated: “We go every day. But we do not learn because we do not understand a thing. There is no Greek lesson for the moment.” “We stay separate from other children, because we do not yet speak the language.”1114 According to UNICEF’s Annual Report on Greece for 2023, it was estimated that by October 2023, there were 25,000 refugee and migrant children in Greece, including 7,000 children from Ukraine,1115 while by the end of 2024 the number of unaccompanied and separated children in the country was 2,414.1116 According to the available data provided by the Ministry of Education, as of 30 January 2024, out of the 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 This upper secondary education cycle consists of the general or vocational upper secondary lycea (GEL/EPAL), see more at Eyridice, available here. UNHCR, Help Greece - Access to Education, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc8rjwrc. Article 55(2) of L 4939/2022. Joint Ministerial Decision139654/ΓΔ4 (Β' 2985/30.08.2017), available in Greek here. Article 1 par. 4 of JMD 139654/ΓΔ4 (Β' 2985/30.08.2017). For the current school year, see Ministerial Decision Φ1/66634/ΚΓ/Δ1/2024 available in Greek here. Refugee Info Greece, School program for kids 6 to 15, last updated on 28 March 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3xUbn6o. Save the Children, Hope and Harm: Children’s Experiences of Seeking Safety in Europe, January 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/r2d2whe2, 21. UNICEF, Country Office Annual Report 2023 - Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/4baeZiL, 2. Ministry of Migration and Asylum, see more here. 205