Chios: Parents Union against school mergers

Categorical opposition to planned mergers of classes at school units on Chios is expressed by the Chios Parents and Guardians Union, in an announcement made public on Friday 21 August 2026 at 09:26. According to the Union, the mergers concern the 1st Primary School of Vrontados and the 11th Primary School of Chios. In the same announcement, the Union denounces a plan to downgrade the Syngreio Primary School of Lithi from a two-teacher to a one-teacher school. These are claims by the parents’ collective body: the plan for these particular units has not been confirmed by the competent authorities and no relevant decision has been made public.

The Union sets out three demands. First, that the Primary School of Lithi be kept at least as a two-teacher school. Second, the immediate withdrawal of any plan to contract, merge or downgrade primary schools and kindergartens on Chios. Third, that small classes be retained, especially where children with diagnosed special educational needs are enrolled. The core argument, as the announcement puts it, concerns how a one-teacher school works: “Forcing so many different year groups to be taught together by a single teacher completely degrades the quality of the knowledge provided,” the Chios Parents and Guardians Union states. The announcement does not say which body took the decisions it refers to, nor at what stage they are.

The issue, as the Union frames it, does not come down to numbers alone. Turning a two-teacher school into a one-teacher school means, in its view, that one teacher is called on to cover all the year groups, while merging classes into larger units increases the number of pupils per classroom. The announcement cites earlier interventions by bodies on Lesvos and Limnos which, it argues, prevented similar downgrades of school units on the islands of the northeastern Aegean. The same issue concerns other parts of the country too, as shown by the suspension of operations at 26 school units in the Peloponnese. More reporting on education in the Education section. The Union does not give figures for the number of teachers who would be affected by the changes.

The demands are addressed to the Directorate of Primary Education of Chios and to the Ministry of Education. So far no reply has been published by either of the two, nor has it been announced whether and when the request concerning the Primary School of Lithi will be considered. Nor has the number of pupils enrolled at the units covered by the announcement been made known. The announcement is signed by the Union’s president Georgios Amentas and its secretary Theodoros Vamvouris. The Union has not announced any further action or mobilisation should its demands not be accepted. The issue is raised ahead of the new school year and, as the announcement indicates, the Union considers that the decisions must be reconsidered before classes begin. Until then, the number of classes that will finally operate at the three units remains open.