Greek Community of Alexandria

Tag: Education

  • Greece began schooling migrant children

    Greece began schooling migrant children

    ΕκπαίδευσηGreece began schooling some 1,500 children of refugees stuck in the country on October 10.

    “Schooling refugee children falls under Greece’s international obligations,” Education Minister Nikos Filis told a news conference.

    Afternoon classes will be held in 20 schools in greater Athens, Thessaloniki and other parts of the country, the ministry said.

    But after two schools in northern Greece last month expressed opposition to the project, officials said only vaccinated refugee children will be allowed to participate.

    “The gradual operation of other areas will follow the progress of the vaccination drive,” said ministry general secretary Yiannis Pantis, according to state agency ANA.

    The Greek government had initially said it would enrol some 18,000 migrant children in schools from the end of September.

    But last month parents in Oreokastro, a district near Thessaloniki, said they would not allow refugee children in their schools for health reasons, a stance condemned by the government.

    Over 60,000 refugees and migrants are currently stuck in Greece after several European states further north shut their borders earlier this year.

    This includes thousands of Syrians fleeing civil war, who are waiting for asylum approval or relocation elsewhere in the European Union.

    But the procedure has been held up by the reluctance of many EU states to accept Muslim refugees after a spate of jihadist attacks in Belgium, France and Germany this year.

    (www.ekathimerini.com)

  • Greek University Students Win World Law Debate Competition

    Greek University Students Win World Law Debate Competition

    ΠολιτισμόςTwo law students from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) claimed the first spot in one of the categories of the World Universities Debating Championships, January 3, in the city of Thessaloniki.

    The victorious team composed by speakers Maria Rousi and Thodoris Dounias was competing in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) category. After going through the qualifying rounds held between December 29 – 31, the NTUA students were among the four teams to go through to the final.

    The topic of the final debate was the use of photographs in the ongoing refugee crisis, by various humanitarian campaigns. The NTUA students, as well as students from UKIM Skopje of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) had to debate in favor of permitting such photographs while students from the German FSU Jena and from Brawijaya University in Indonesia had to speak on prohibiting the photographs.

    The annual competition that was held in Thessaloniki this year, included 1,200 students from 350 institutions hailing from 70 different countries, according to Huffington Post Greece.

    Team A from Harvard Law School won the Open category (English as a First Language Competition), while team A from De La Salle University won the English as a Second Language (ESL) category. Michael Dunn Goekija won the Open Best speaker award.

    (greece.greekreporter.com)