Problems with school premises have already led to closure of one school
From the eventful first day of school in Kanalia.
CORFU. From warnings to a walkout in just a few days – children were sent home early from Kanalia Kindergarten on Monday, which was effectively closed on Tuesday and Wednesday – parents take their protest to the Municipal Council.
The school year had barely begun when the school accommodation issue, highlighted by Enimerosi just a few days ago in connection with outstanding issues affecting schools and pre-school facilities run by the Municipality, turned from a warning into a real operational problem.
The first serious incident occurred at Kanalia Kindergarten. On the morning of Monday 14 September, the kindergarten closed early, with the children leaving at 10:30 a.m. following an emergency verbal instruction from the Corfu Directorate of Primary Education.
Parents gathered in the grounds of the prefabricated classrooms, along with the Regional Director of Education for the Ionian Islands, Petros Angelopoulos; the Director of Primary Education for Corfu, Mr Vlassis; Deputy Mayor Christos Skourtis; and the representative of the Corfu Primary Teachers’ Association (SEPE), Antonis Koursaris.
An attempt to find a temporary solution did not ease the situation. Proposals were put forward to move the children to other school buildings or even to operate the kindergarten on a shift basis in the existing building. The proposals prompted a strong reaction from the parents, who rejected solutions which, they argue, would shift the consequences of the accommodation impasse onto the children and their families.
Two-day stay-away protest
The parents’ meeting unanimously decided to escalate their protest. The children will not attend the kindergarten on Tuesday 15 or Wednesday 16 September.
On Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m., the parents are planning to stage a protest at the Municipal Council meeting, where the renewal of the property lease is also expected to be discussed, in accordance with the terms set by the owner.
The focus of the dispute now shifts there. Because behind Monday’s tensions lies a problem that did not arise on the morning of 14 September. It concerns the kindergarten’s premises, the lease of the property and, ultimately, the failure to secure a stable solution in time before the start of the school year.
Not just Kanalia
The development takes on greater significance because it comes just days after Enimerosi highlighted the wider problem of school accommodation in the Municipality of Central Corfu.
The case of the 5th Nursery School in Garitsa had already brought to light the issue of facilities operating in rented properties and the need to secure continuity of their premises in good time. The same report also raised questions about other schools, including the 13th Primary School, in order to establish how many are facing similar outstanding issues.
The situation in Kanalia has now given the problem a sense of urgency. This is no longer simply an administrative matter involving contracts, rents and available properties. It concerns children leaving school before the end of the school day and parents resorting to a boycott just days after the school blessing ceremony.
ELENI KORONAKI
