Greece planning to launch classes, activities for refugee children in September

Greece is to launch pilot education and activity schemes for children at refugee camps over the summer, with the aim of beginning proper classes in September.

Kathimerini understands the Education Ministry aims to teach refugee children their own languages, English and some basic Greek from September.

The teaching will take place in classrooms that will be constructed within the refugee camps. Two to three teachers will be assigned to each classroom, which will be big enough to hold up to 150 pupils.

The ministry has already formed three committees, led by educators, that are collecting data about the young refugees at each camp in order to devise the appropriate teaching programs and activities. 

There will also be attempts to make use of any teachers that may be among the refugees at the camps. As of May 16, there were 54,469 refugees officially registered in Greece.

The education programme will be implemented with funding from the European Union.