nationals or stateless persons who entered Greece as unaccompanied minors and have successfully completed at least three (3) classes of secondary education in a Greek school in Greece before reaching the age of twenty-three”. Only evidence of successful completion -and therefore promotion- to the next class are accepted, and not simple attestations of attendance (Circular no 17314 of 12 January 2024). Although in law, this has been a long-expected regulation addressing a serious protection gap for asylum seeking youngsters,1125 three years of schooling before the age of twenty-three is problematic. In particular, as mentioned above, inadequate staffing, reception classes that start months after the beginning of the school year, lack of tailored vocational education options are some of the factors that hinder the harmonious integration of UAMs in school and lead to their early dropout. As long as a transitory residence permit, covering the legality of stay for children turning 18 is not institutionalised, the new provision of the Migration Code (Article 161 para 1c΄ of L 5038/1.4.2023) for the grant of a 10-year residence permit will not be applicable and will remain void. GCR has also observed – mainly through its intercultural centre PYXIDA – that attendance seemed to have decreased during the school year 2022-2023, mainly due to the closure of ESTIA accommodation program, which led to the removal of families and their children from the center of Athens and their confinement in camps away from the city. As a result, children had to start from zero in remote areas under harsh living conditions and with very limited possibilities of accessing school. In their letter to the authorities in May 2023, 32 Refugee Education Coordinators condemned the very poor living conditions of asylum applicants in the accommodation structures in Greece and in the new –prison-like- Closed Controlled Access Centres (CCACs), which are an obstacle to children’s access to public education due to the distance of the structures from schools, thus the drastic limitation of the communication of the children with their peers outside the structure, the impossibility for them to participate in social activities and the suffocating situation for the development and inclusion of children. 1126 Regarding adequate staffing and timely scheduling of reception classes, it seems that the same problems remain, meaning the significant delays and insufficient number of teachers recruited in staffing reception and DYEP classes. In particular, according to the above-mentioned study of Foster Educators, the majority of the supportive reception classes -mainly for Greek language- started in November 2022, with schools even starting reception classes in February, March or even April 2023, with a number of them stopping very early (February or March) due to teacher transfers or placements. 1127 Moreover, regarding the inclusiveness of education, UNICEF’s project All Children in Education (ACE) came to an end in June 2024, leaving a gap for school-aged children in the reception facilities. This project aimed to facilitate the integration of refugee and migrant children in formal education through non-formal education services, such as interpretation services in schools, Greek language courses, psychosocial support for students and teachers’ empowerment. At the time of writing (January 2025) there is no staterun project to holistically facilitate educational integration of child applicants, caring also for their families. According to field qualitative research of GCR and Save the Children, most of the interviewees (children, caregivers and experts) shared that extracurricular activities are indispensable “breathers” for children in a camp setting.1128 Regarding adult education and training, after the age of 18, asylum applicants and refugees may attend several educational programs run by state or private agencies, NGOs and other organisations, such as Second Chance schools (for adults who have not completed mandatory education) and centres for Lifelong Learning operate in municipalities. Adult asylum applicants who have graduated from secondary education may participate in examinations to enter Universities or Higher Technological Institution or register in the Institutes of Vocational Training (SAEK/ΣΑΕΚ in Greek).1129 Yet, a significant obstacle hindering asylum seekers in their efforts to continue their studies or upskill to match employment needs is the practical difficulty or actual impossibility to prove and recognise existing education and training qualifications. Due to the circumstances forcing them to leave their homes, many 1125 See joint Press Release of 14 NGOs, members of Child Rights Advocacy Network (CRAN), December 2022, 1126 1127 1128 1129 available in Greek here. Alfavita, Εκπαίδευση προσφυγόπουλων: SOS από Συντονιστές εκπαίδευσης για κλειστές δομές – ‘ανοικτές φυλακές’, 15 May 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4aR2vgh. FOSTER EDUCATORS, School attendance of unaccompanied refugee minors during the 2022-23 school year (in greek -Η σχολική φοίτηση των ασυνόδευτων ανήλικων προσφύγων κατά το σχολικό έτος 2022-23), December 2023, p. 46, available in Greek at: here. See GCR and Save the Children, “It does not feel like real life”: children’s everyday life in Greek refugee camps, December 2024, available here, p.27. UNHCR, Help Greece - Access to Education, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc8rjwrc. 207