Corfu is facing an unprecedented school housing crisis, with educational unions and parent associations calling for an island-wide rally on Thursday, April 23, at 6 PM in Annunziata. This demonstration aims to highlight the critical state of school infrastructure, a problem exacerbated by years of underfunding and neglect from successive governments. The situation raises serious questions about the priorities of regional and municipal authorities, especially when compared to rapid developments in tourism infrastructure.
A Decades-Long Neglect: The State of Corfu’s Schools
The problem of school housing in Corfu, much like in the rest of Greece, is immense. Chronic underfunding over many years has led to a deterioration of educational conditions, affecting not only teaching and support staff but also the very buildings where children learn. Issues with school infrastructure are becoming increasingly common, with schools closing, relocating, and even flooding. Many facilities are deemed unsuitable, dilapidated, and dangerous.
The current state of both primary and secondary education is appalling and, in many cases, hazardous. The last new school building on the island, the 4th Lyceum, was delivered after an astonishing 18 years of construction. This starkly contrasts with the rapid construction of hotels and luxury yacht marinas, clearly demonstrating a prioritization of profit over public needs. When projects essential for public welfare do not generate immediate profit, they are deemed ineligible for funding, a reality that directly impacts the need for modern and safe school buildings.
The Human Cost of Neglect: Unsuitable Learning Environments
Consequently, many school buildings are unmaintained, left to decay from time and use. Children are forced to attend classes in unsuitable rented buildings, old hotels, residential basements, and classrooms divided by plasterboard, often suffering from dampness. Even at the tender age of four, children are starting their education in containers. Many schools lack accessibility for people with disabilities, multipurpose rooms, indoor gyms, libraries, dining halls, or even shaded areas in their concrete yards for hot days and shelters for rainy ones.
These schools frequently flood with the first rains, and plaster and tiles fall, alongside numerous other structural problems that often render the buildings not only structurally but also statically unsafe. Furthermore, fire safety and seismic checks have not been carried out, despite Greece being Europe’s most seismically active country, posing significant risks to students and staff.
Education as a Right, Not a Commodity
A school building, where students spend up to eight hours a day, is a crucial factor in their upbringing and education, and a symbol of the state’s respect and care for its children. School infrastructure, its size, and architecture are not merely technical matters; they concern the conditions under which learning and educational processes take place. It is vital to have modern, public, and free infrastructure that can meet the complex needs of our children. It is imperative that the state takes all necessary measures to ensure students’ presence in modern facilities and infrastructure, suitable for all activities, not just a single classroom for all functions and uses.
Given advancements in science and technology, school units should be adapted accordingly, with laboratories, sports facilities, theater and music spaces, as well as dining and resting areas.
Accountability and Political Priorities
Regional and municipal authorities from recent years also bear a share of responsibility for the current situation. Despite attempts to deflect blame with the familiar argument of “no money,” they cannot hide their full alignment with government policies that have led to this point. This policy, especially during wartime, diverts funds from public needs to military preparations. It is a policy that can spend billions on sending Patriots to guard oil in Saudi Arabia but cannot fix our schools.
We are sounding the alarm to all responsible parties. The condition of school infrastructure is DANGEROUS. Do not play with the lives of students and those who work in schools.
Demands for Immediate Action
The unions and parent associations are organizing their counter-attack and fighting for:
- Immediate and thorough inspection of all schools.
- Completion of pre-seismic checks and secondary seismic checks in all schools where deemed necessary, with state funding.
- Fire protection checks.
- Immediate initiation of procedures for the construction of new, modern, and safe schools.
- Immediate increase in funding for the repair and maintenance of schools, as students are at risk during school hours and daily from poorly maintained materials (plaster, lighting fixtures, doors, windows, etc.).
- Establishment of a maintenance and inspection registry for school buildings under state responsibility.
- Creation of a unified public body responsible for the study, construction, maintenance, and repair of all public buildings.
- Formation of a Unified Anti-Seismic Shielding Body, which will encompass current disparate public services and organizations, and receive generous funding from the state budget.
Safe and modern school housing is literally a matter of life!
The Boards of Directors of the Parents’ Associations of Central, North, and South Corfu, ELME Corfu, and SEPE Corfu call on public and private sector unions, educators, parents, students, and all citizens of Corfu to an island-wide rally for school housing on THURSDAY, APRIL 23, AT 6 PM IN ANNUNZIATA.
