Internal inquiry indicates missing student was bullied
The head of the Dairy School in Ioannina, from where a student went missing last month, was asked to resign on Friday after an internal investigation suggested that the 20-year-old man had been the victim of bullying during his time at the institution.
The whereabouts of Vangelis Giakoumakis are still not known but police are continuing to search for him. He was last seen leaving the school on February 4. He left his mobile phone and wallet in his dormitory room.
The internal investigation, carried out by the Greek Agricultural Organization (ELGO) which oversees the Dairy School, suggests that the head of the institution failed to react properly to complaints of bullying. According to sources, the report also suggests that a politician may have intervened to protect at least one student suspected of bullying from punishment.
Upon receiving the results of the probe, Alternate Minister for Agricultural Development Vangelis Apostolou asked for the school’s director to step down and for ELGO to forward its findings to a prosecutor.
In a related development, a UNICEF study published on Friday suggested that 51 percent of 15-year-olds in Greece said they had been bullied at school in the last two months.
