Students, teachers, parents and education workers across Greece are taking part in a nationwide two-day mobilization on October 20 and 21, demanding stronger public education funding, affordable student housing, better school conditions and measures to ease the rising cost of living.
The protests began Tuesday with university students gathering in Athens’ Syntagma Square, where they are staging a symbolic overnight encampment and a solidarity concert. The action follows an earlier student camp in the square focused on the rising cost of studying and Greece’s shortage of affordable student accommodation.
The mobilization is expected to reach its peak on Wednesday, October 21, when students, school pupils and teachers will join a major education rally at noon at the Propylaea in central Athens. A parallel demonstration is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Venizelos Statue in Thessaloniki, with rallies and other actions planned in cities across Greece.
University students are demanding increased state funding for higher education, improved infrastructure and laboratories, free student accommodation and meals, and support for students who have to rent housing away from their home cities. Student groups say rising rents and the cost of basic necessities are making it increasingly difficult for young people to remain in higher education.
Teachers are also pressing for higher salaries, permanent recruitment to fill staff shortages and safer, better-maintained school buildings. Greece’s Primary Teachers’ Federation has called a 24-hour strike for October 21, arguing that staffing gaps are being addressed through measures including merged classes, compulsory overtime and assignments outside teachers’ specialties. The federation is also calling for increased funding for school maintenance and stronger safety standards.
Secondary-school teachers have announced a work stoppage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., while special-education workers in Attica are also planning strike action over thousands of unfilled positions. Parents’ groups are joining demonstrations in several areas, particularly over shortages of special-education personnel, school nurses and other support staff.
School students are preparing their own actions, including assemblies, walkouts and protests. The Athens Students’ Coordinating Committee has called for students to join the October 21 rally alongside university students and teachers, citing shortages, deteriorating school infrastructure and planned changes to the education system.
The demonstrations come amid a broader wave of student and youth protests across Europe, with young people in several countries raising concerns about education funding, housing costs, deteriorating public services and the wider cost-of-living crisis. Greek student organizers have linked their campaign to similar mobilizations elsewhere in Europe.
Greek authorities have placed police on heightened alert ahead of the demonstrations, particularly in central Athens, amid concerns over possible clashes and disruption.
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The October 20-21 mobilization reflects growing pressure from Greece’s education community over the affordability and quality of public education. Student and labor groups are already discussing further action in the coming weeks, indicating that the latest protests could develop into a broader campaign over education, wages, housing and living costs.
