Schooling costs huge for parents
Greek families spend some 4.5 billion euros annually, often forgoing vacations, to ensure that their children get the best education possible, according to the results of a survey made public over the weekend. Some 80 percent of parents questioned by the National Center for Social Research (EKKE) said they made personal sacrifices and limited their spending in other areas to pay for extra lessons for their children attending school and university. Around half of the parents surveyed said they worked overtime, and more than one in 10 said they worked two jobs to cover these extra expenses. Four out of 10 parents said they denied themselves vacations to save money for their children’s schooling. The same survey found that seven in 10 parents believe the Greek education system is inadequate. Also, more than half (56.7 percent) of parents questioned were troubled by the absence of psychological support for children in school. A similar proportion were concerned about inadequate infrastructure (54.3 percent) and poorly trained teachers (52.7 percent).
