The issue of linguistic integration of pupils with a migrant background has returned to the forefront of the education debate, following a bill discussed today at the House Parliamentary Committee on Education. The proposal has already prompted reactions from teachers’ organisations and reopened discussion on how the education system manages the inclusion of children whose mother tongue is not Greek.
The proposal, submitted by DIKO MP and Chair of the Education Committee Pavlos Mylonas, provides that children of primary school age and above with a migrant background may be admitted to a public primary school only after attending Greek language lessons offered by the competent authority. It further stipulates that knowledge of Greek must be certified through success in a relevant examination organised by the same authority.
Reactions from teachers’ organisations
The Progressive Movement of Teachers and Kindergarten Teachers has expressed strong disagreement with the provision. In a statement, the organisation argues that the proposal creates conditions for exclusion.
“The provision introduces an unacceptable filter excluding children from public school, turning the right to education into a condition dependent on examination success,” the statement reads. It adds that public schools “must be a space of inclusion, support and pedagogical empowerment, not a mechanism of exclusion and categorisation”.
The organisation also notes that international educational research indicates that language acquisition accelerates when children are immediately integrated into natural linguistic environments and interact daily with native speakers of the host country’s language.
It calls on the state to withdraw the specific provision and to strengthen educational policies for children with a migrant background, primarily through programmes teaching Greek as a second language within the public school system.
23 per cent of pupils
The linguistic integration of pupils with a migrant background has repeatedly concerned the education community in recent years. In several schools, difficulties are reported in communication and in the daily teaching process, while in some cases pupils face challenges in understanding lessons, affecting their ability to follow instruction.
The debate takes place in an educational landscape where the presence of pupils with a migrant background has increased over the past decade. According to a study entitled “Distribution of pupil origin 2014–2024”, based on data from the Ministry of Education, pupils from European Union member states and third countries account for a significant share of the public education population.
Specifically, they represent 26.4 per cent of pupils in kindergartens, 22.4 per cent in primary schools, 20.6 per cent in public lower secondary schools, 16 per cent in technical schools and 15 per cent in upper secondary schools. Overall, they account for approximately 23 per cent of pupils in public education.
The same study records a steady increase over the past decade. In public lower secondary schools, for example, the number of pupils from EU and third countries rose from 2,841 in 2014 to 4,968 in 2024, while in primary education the figure increased from 8,061 to 11,649.