Thousands of Greek Students and Teachers March for Better-Funded, Less Crowded Schools

Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets across Greece on Wednesday, October 21, in a nationwide day of protest over the state of public education. Demonstrators demanded higher government funding for schools and universities, urgent repairs to ageing facilities and an end to overcrowded classrooms.

Police estimated that about 10,000 people rallied peacefully in central Athens and its suburbs, with further marches held in cities around the country. Many students had camped overnight in tents in Syntagma Square, outside parliament, before joining the march, chanting in favour of public, free education. Some primary school teachers and hospital doctors also walked out in sympathy, pressing their own claims over pay and staff shortages.

Part of a wider European mood

The Greek action echoed similar protests in France and elsewhere in Europe, where anger over soaring living costs and deteriorating public services has been building. Protesters explicitly linked their demands to that broader movement, presenting education funding as one front in a wider argument about wages, rents and public investment.

The demonstrations add pressure on the centre-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ahead of elections due in mid-2027. Although Greece has emerged from its 2009–2018 debt crisis — a period when education spending was cut under austerity programmes tied to roughly €290 billion in international bailouts — many households still feel squeezed. Real purchasing power remains among the lowest in the European Union and has been hit again by inflation and rising fuel prices.

Government points to investment already under way

Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said ahead of the marches that she was listening to students’ concerns and acknowledged that housing costs are weighing heavily on families. She pointed to projects worth more than €733 million (about $823 million) already under way to build new student residences and upgrade facilities.

For students and teachers, however, the message from the streets was that investment is not arriving fast enough. With classrooms still crowded and starting salaries still low by European standards, organisers say education will remain a central issue as Greece moves towards its next election.

Source: Reuters via 94.1 The Duke