Disabled Children Invisible in the Greek School System

A Child’s right to education may be one of the most important constitutional mandates, but it does not apply to all the children of Greece. Children with disabilities are invisible entities within an educational system that denies even keeping records of them. Only 15% of disabled children are currently attending school in Greece. The remaining 85%, approximately 170,000 children, live in exile from the educational community, an exile that will undoubtedly carry on throughout the rest of their lives, since it also makes them invisible to society. Greece, does not even have a national register to keep records of children with disabilities, therefore these numbers are a rough estimate is why this number is an estimate. During the 2010-2011 school year, only 24,105 children with disabilities attended ordinary Greek schools, while 7,656 children attended special schools. This means that out of the 200,000 children with disabilities who are estimated to live in Greece, only 31,761 were able to attend school, the equivalent of 15%. These shocking figures were revealed thanks to Pelagia Papanikolaou’s research. She is a candidate doctor in the Athens Law School Criminology Department. Her research was published by ActionAid, an international non-governmental organization whose primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide, which is organizing a new campaign to demand the immediate integration of disabled children in schools and a reform of the current Greek educational system, so that it will provide for all students. ActionAid calls on the Greek Education Minister to take immediate steps to change this embarrassing situation. The first and most important measure they suggested was the creation of national records for children with disabilities and their educational needs, as well as the improvement of the almost nonexistent accessibility of students in schools. Furthermore, they asked for the continuous training of teachers, the institutionalization of a student participation process for children with disabilities and their parents in decisions that affect them and care for the stable funding of special education programs from the state budget.

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Syriza MP Koroumblis to be appointed Health minister, first ever with disability

The blind Syriza MP Panagiotis Kouroumblis is going to be Greece’s first-ever minister with a disability, taking over the Health ministry, as the lawmaker revealed himself during a TV appearance. "Last night, the president called me and trusted me with a ...

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Disabled children kept in cages in Greek childcare centre

Disability rights groups have condemned the inhumane treatment of disabled children in Greece, after it was revealed that at least one disability-care ...

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New Restaurant Offers Opportunity for Disabled

Thirty-three-year-old Dionysis-Nectarios Daloukas, plans to open up a restaurant in the Greek port city of Volos, Thessaly, and will be exclusively hiring disabled employees. He hopes that his outdoor restaurant, due to open its doors next May, will help build bridges for his city’s disabled people. Dionysis-Nectarios Daloukas, who suffered from a stroke at the young age of 18, decided to open a restaurant that gives disabled persons the opportunity to be productive. The stroke he suffered, left him with 80% disability, and at the same time, a great appetite to fight for a better life. Learning to cope with heart problems — that force him to live with a machine connected to his heart — he became acquainted with all the obstacles the disabled live with on a daily basis. Instead of allowing his disability drag him down, Dionysis found inspiration in creating a restaurant named ‘La Petite Cantine,’ an outdoor restaurant run exclusively by people with special needs in Volos, where he resides. The restaurant offers those with disabilities — who can and want to work —  the opportunity to integrate themselves in the workforce. It is an innovative concept, not only for a small city in the Greek periphery, but in Greece in general. Although the idea of integrating disabled persons in society has been embraced throughout Europe, in Greece it has not been so. The country ratified most of the major international conventions in terms of access to education and employment for people with special needs and disabilities in 2009. “The idea is to develop a serious understanding of disabled people and support through employment as well. Our carefully developed plan is to start a business combining and establishing regular customers in our city who will enjoy quality food with fresh local products and offer work to people with special needs who face a myriad of barriers,” he said at an interview. Disabled people who can work and who want to work face many obstacles so we want to support their need to find employment,” he added.

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