Plan to hire 3,800 jobless as guards for schools
The Interior and Education ministries are reportedly planning an initiative that would give jobs to some 3,800 unemployed people to work as caretakers in state schools following the abolition of school guards as part of an overhaul of the civil service pledged by the Greek government to the country’s international creditors.
The selection of candidates will be based on criteria to be set out by the Manpower Organization (OAED) while the job description is to be determined by the Education Ministry. According to sources, the role will involve guarding the school grounds and supervising pupils during breaks from class.
Just over 2,200 school guards were included in the first wave of some 4,400 civil servants transferred to other positions in the public sector last month as part of a mobility scheme.
The scheme, one of several commitments made by Athens to its troika of foreign creditors, foresees 12,500 employees being put on reduced wages ahead of their transfer or dismissal by the end of next month and another 12,500 joining the scheme by the end of the year.
Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is overseeing the overhaul, has indicated that a list of the first round of 12,500 civil servants will be ready by September 16. Next week, there will be pressure on all ministries to submit their lists of employees so that the final list can be prepared and the 12,500 employees can be inducted into the scheme on time. The mobility scheme is expected to be high on the agenda of talks between government officials and the troika when foreign envoys return to Athens at the end of next month.
Mitsotakis on Friday welcomed Thursday’s decision by Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis to revoke the appointment of a civil servant to the municipal police force who had secured his post using a forged university degree certificate.
“Our ultimate aim is to purge the public sector of the few crafty individuals who defraud the state and Greek society while also rewarding the honorable and conscientious employees who comprise the great majority,” Mitsotakis said, adding that checks would be intensified to identify staff who entered the civil service with fake education certificates.
