Parents oppose lot pick for school parade flag-bearers

The parents of seven star pupils have taken recourse to the Council to State to oppose a measure introduced earlier this year by Education Minister Costas Gavroglou for the flag-bearer in school parades on national holidays to be selected by lot.

In the complaint filed with the country’s highest administrative court, the parents argue that the measure is unconstitutional as it was guided by ideological principles, and was not the subject of a reform introduced due to popular demand or social necessity. Gavroglou had said that the decision for the flag-bearer to be chosen by lot rather than on the basis of academic performance was to make the process fairer.

The issue came to the forefront at the October 28 Ochi Day parade, when an Athens school rejected the name drawn for flag-bearer, that of an Afghan boy who had been at the school for just a few months. He was instead allowed to carry a sign with the school’s name on it while another child carried the flag.