Thousands of children head back to school

Students in Corinth, southern Greece, attend the customary blessing ceremony marking the first day of school on Tuesday. According to Education Minister Costas Gavroglou, this year will be the last time lessons will begin at 8.30 a.m. as he announced the school day will start at 9 a.m. in the 2019-20 academic year. ‘Next year classes will start at 9 a.m. so we can get some more sleep,’ he said during a tour of schools in Attica. He reassured working parents that the new time frame will affect them as they will be able to drop their children off at school first. [Vassilis Psomas/ANA-MPA]