Private schools gain ground as parents invest in education

Despite Greece’s financial constraints, registrations at private schools in 2018-2019 are up by 10 percent compared to last year, the chairman of the Association of Private Schools, Haralambos Kyrailidis, has said.

The rise in demand for private schools has reversed a six-year decline in registrations, from 82,000 students in 2009 to 67,000 in 2015.

Kyrailidis adds that this fresh demand is also being seen at every grade level.

The rise this year, says Deputy Principal of the German School of Athens Vassilis Tolias, denotes the traditionally strong interest of families to educate their children at private schools, in spite of the protracted economic crisis.

“An increasing number of families consider education a safe and profitable investment,” Tolias told Kathimerini. “It is an investment that is not taxed.”

There are 1,100 private schools in Greece that comprise just 8.4 percent of the total.