Kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools across the country to welcome students with the traditional blessing ceremony, officially marking the start of the 2026–2027 school year.
To mark the start of the school year, the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports, Sofia Zacharaki, will be in Heraklion, Crete, to visit schools at all levels of education, two of which are Onassis Public Schools, two schools that participated in the “Marietta Giannakou” program, a vocational high school, and an evening general high school.
What the new school year “brings” to schools
The “first bell” of the year “welcomes” schools with an additional 5,259 new general education and special education teachers, as well as members of the Special Education Staff and Special Support Staff. At the same time, the first phase of hiring substitute teachers has been completed, while the second phase of hiring is expected by the end of September.
During the new school year, the International Baccalaureate (IB) program will be implemented for the first time in 11 public schools across the country. Furthermore, in 2026–27, 51 new and updated curricula will be implemented, and the Ethics course will be introduced from the third grade of elementary school through the third year of high school, for students who are exempt from Religious Studies, while there will be the option to take a free online exam for the State Certificate of Language Proficiency in the third year of junior high school in English, French, German, and Italian. At the same time, eight new Onassis Public Schools (junior high and high schools) will open for the first time.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Education plans to expand the live-class program of the Digital Tutoring Center —which will be in its third year this year—to include the first and second grades of high school, in addition to the third grade.
Source: APE-MPE
