Corfu schools open with shortages in school nurses
schools
12 Sep 2022
/ 18:45
CORFU. Parents are forced to accompany their child for the whole school day or keep them at home.
According to the primary teachers' union (SEPE), Corfu schools have opened with many vacancies. In its statement it pointed out that school nurses bridge health care and education and contribute to equal access to education. However, the Ministry of Education has not proceeded with the necessary recruitment to cover all schools.
Statement from SEPE:
Not enough school nurses were appointed to schools this year. In Corfu schools there are already vacancies from the beginning of the school year, thus causing inconvenience to many parents. They are often forced to accompany their children every day for the whole school day and in some cases, it is even suggested that they keep them at home because there are no school nurses.
The crucial role of school nurses has been well demonstrated. They bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, support quality care for pupils, contribute to equal access to education and ensure the development of pupils' knowledge by providing a protected and healthy school environment.
The solution, which has been implemented in some schools (i.e. a school nurse is present for two days a week and the rest of the time they go to another school!) cannot be considered functional. Diabetes, epilepsy and other diseases do not choose specific days to appear!
Given that organic vacancies have not been filled, substitute school nurses are forced to resign, like dozens of other teachers, because they cannot find a house to stay and living away from home is very expensive.
In addition, the school nurses' work is made more difficult, as in the majority of cases there is not a special room available for the provision of nursing care and the care is provided either in teachers' offices, a storage room or a space in the gym or in the events hall - places that do not serve the provision of nursing care in any way.
We demand from the Ministry of Education:
- To approve all applications by bypassing the bureaucracy, provided that the necessary documents from hospitals and doctors are available.
- To approve all requests for the placement of school nurses without delay and to make the necessary recruitments according to the actual needs.
- To recruit permanent school nurses in every school linked to a fully staffed and upgraded primary health care system.
- To remove all bureaucratic obstacles that have to do with parallel support and vulnerable pupils.
The Ministry of Education should not gamble with the pupils' lives and health!
The recruitment of a full-time school nurse for every child is mandatory!
The President Antonis Koursaris
The Secretary Dimitris Gasteratos
Statement from SEPE:
Not enough school nurses were appointed to schools this year. In Corfu schools there are already vacancies from the beginning of the school year, thus causing inconvenience to many parents. They are often forced to accompany their children every day for the whole school day and in some cases, it is even suggested that they keep them at home because there are no school nurses.
The crucial role of school nurses has been well demonstrated. They bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, support quality care for pupils, contribute to equal access to education and ensure the development of pupils' knowledge by providing a protected and healthy school environment.
The solution, which has been implemented in some schools (i.e. a school nurse is present for two days a week and the rest of the time they go to another school!) cannot be considered functional. Diabetes, epilepsy and other diseases do not choose specific days to appear!
Given that organic vacancies have not been filled, substitute school nurses are forced to resign, like dozens of other teachers, because they cannot find a house to stay and living away from home is very expensive.
In addition, the school nurses' work is made more difficult, as in the majority of cases there is not a special room available for the provision of nursing care and the care is provided either in teachers' offices, a storage room or a space in the gym or in the events hall - places that do not serve the provision of nursing care in any way.
We demand from the Ministry of Education:
- To approve all applications by bypassing the bureaucracy, provided that the necessary documents from hospitals and doctors are available.
- To approve all requests for the placement of school nurses without delay and to make the necessary recruitments according to the actual needs.
- To recruit permanent school nurses in every school linked to a fully staffed and upgraded primary health care system.
- To remove all bureaucratic obstacles that have to do with parallel support and vulnerable pupils.
The Ministry of Education should not gamble with the pupils' lives and health!
The recruitment of a full-time school nurse for every child is mandatory!
The President Antonis Koursaris
The Secretary Dimitris Gasteratos
