School in Piraeus operated illegally despite license revocation in July

Since last summer, and specifically in July 2024, the decision to revoke the operation of the private educational institution (Gymnasium and Lyceum) in Piraeus, which was sealed by the decision of the Minister of Education, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, had been signed.

Specifically, the school owner appealed the July decision in court, winning the case, resulting in it remaining open as an annex to other schools operated by the company in Elliniko.

The issue resurfaced after the recent post by the National Transparency Authority, which said it had received a complaint that the teacher was harassing female students at the private school. Consequently, there will likely be a new decision by the Ministry of Education to suspend the school’s operation. Similarly, legal circles believe that the property will again appeal to the judiciary and may succeed in continuing to operate under the status it has been operating under.

According to reports, the public sector, namely, the Ministry of Education, has made the “exercise” in case the judiciary does not vindicate the ownership of the school and is preparing to allow children attending the school to be able to transfer to public schools.

It should be noted that the decision to suspend the school, is not related to the sex scandal of the teacher since he was moved from his position and is employed as a driver in other activities of the company, but it relates to the legal incompatibilities of the owner, who took over the business from his parents. The owner of the training school, who formerly served in a public school, was disciplined with a permanent suspension from public service for concurrently performing private work without the necessary license.

The private school in Elliniko, which was sealed by the Education Ministry following an investigation conducted by the National Transparency Authority and based on its recommendation, had been guilty of other “blunders” in the past. As the Federation of Private Officers of Greece (OIELE) revealed in 2013, parents had paid tuition fees while their children received invalid certificates of study.

As stated in the National Transparency Authority (NTA) announcement, the owner of the school had been given the disciplinary sanction of permanent suspension from the public service for carrying out private work without a license. Despite the sanction, he signed as the school’s legal representative when licensing the training school. The owner’s actions resulted in many students risking receiving invalid diplomas, even though their parents had paid their tuition in full.

Then, by the decision of the Ministry of Education, these students were transferred to public or other private schools. Specifically, the then Director of P.E. D’ Athens immediately took the necessary steps to ensure that the students did not miss the year. At the same time, to ensure the smooth issuance of indicative and graduation certificates, the Deputy Minister of Education, Theodoros Papatheodorou, issued an order for the immediate transfer of the students to public schools.

The announcement of the National Transparency Authority

A complaint was submitted to the NCHA that a teacher at a private school was harassing female students at the school.

The NAD immediately conducted an inspection of the private school and requested immediate action by the relevant Directorate of Education, which conducted an Administrative Inquiry under oath to investigate the facts.

At the same time, the teacher involved resigned from the private school and was permanently removed from it.

Findings during the conduct of the audit:

Correspondence with the HECA (ERGANI) revealed that while the teacher had resigned from his/her duties at the school due to the harassment allegations, the owner of the training school, despite being aware of all this, rehired him/her in another business of a different subject from education.

Correspondence with the relevant education department revealed that the owner of the training school, who had previously worked in a public school, had been subjected to the disciplinary penalty of permanent termination from the public sector for engaging in private work without prior authorization; the owner of the training school, when licensing him, signed as the legal representative, even though he had been subjected to the penalty of permanent termination (he had been fired).

It should be noted that according to the current provisions, among the conditions for the granting of a license for the operation of private educational institutions is the non-dismissal of the legal representative of the educational institution.

Given the above:

1. The report of the NCA has been forwarded to the competent Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal for criminal assessment of the findings therein.

2. The Report was sent to the competent General Directorate of the Ministry of National Defence for the faithful application of the current provisions on the obstacles to the granting of operating licenses to private educational institutions.

3. The Minister of Education, on the recommendation of the above General Directorate, suspended the operating license of the private school in question, and the competent Directorate of Education, implementing the Minister’s decision, “sealed” the private school, the operation of which was suspended.

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