Obviously, this journalist does not know well enough how the Public Kindergartens work or he does not have any other issue to raise in his show and so he focuses on the sensitive citizenship as a parent in order to increase his spectacle. But this is unfair and some separation had to be made on some issues regarding the control of public kindergartens.
As far as public kindergartens are concerned, the term "public" alone implies continuous state control over facilities, operation, curriculum, finances, safety and health, and staff. At the same time, the Public Kindergarten is not a private company or a non-profit organization.
The Public Kindergarten has as its concern the Free, and only, Pre-Primary Education or the study with very low tuition for the ages 3-4 8/12 (42 euros maximum per month).
It is known and indisputable that the Public Kindergartens operate with fully specialized and qualified staff since graduates of Universities of Greece and Cyprus work in them by law. This is controlled by the Education Service Committee, which appoints kindergarten teachers from the list of appointees where the degrees and additional qualifications of each teacher are submitted to be deemed appropriate. Therefore, it is self-evident that the Ministry of Education as an employer can not hire anyone without the required criteria.
At the same time, the number of children is legally limited to 25 children. This is checked with the school registers and the various registration forms sent to the Ministry of Education from January to June at the Ministry of Education. If the kindergarten is overcrowded, the Ministry of Education has the option to create another department if provided by law and to hire additional staff, otherwise the children are rejected based on criteria. Therefore, it is clear that the Ministry of Education as an employer can not hide children in its files.
What I would not disagree with the journalist is the small number of inspectors in Public Pre-Primary Education (only 3). A constant request of POED was to increase their number. Of course, this does not mean that there is not enough control in kindergartens. On the contrary, there is a daily control since in the school units there are principals and assistant principals who coordinate and are aware of everything that happens in the school unit. These are the connecting link with the inspectors and the Ministry of Education whenever and wherever needed. It is therefore self-evident that the Ministry of Education as an employer has the opportunity with the principals and assistant principals to be aware and control at any time everything that happens in the school unit even the teachers themselves.
Teachers are also checked with the evaluations made every year by the principals and assistant principals and are sent to the Ministry of Education in the personal file of the teachers. Similarly, the principals and assistant principals are checked both for their work and for the school units by the relevant inspectors and the officials of the Ministry of Education.
So let no one make baseless accusations and hasty conclusions so that everything goes into one cauldron. I think it is unfair! We must finally separate the operation and objectives of kindergartens and private kindergartens from public kindergartens. It is time to change the way EVERYONE treats public kindergartens.
* Kindergarten teacher, Member of the Secretariat of PADED PROTOPORIA