The parliamentary assembly voted in favor of a new, controversial education bill that will bring significant changes to the high school, with the full support of New Democracy and PASOK.
Of the 98 MPs present, 52 (ND, PASOK and independent MP Andreas Loverdos) voted in favor of the bill, 45 (SYRIZA, ANEL, DIMAR, Golden Dawn and KKE) voted against, while independent MP Giorgos Kasapidis was present. ANEL MP Giovanopoulos and DIMAR MP Lykoudis were not present for the vote.
The Minister of Education Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos stated that “there are no excessive educators, nor is anyone at risk from the suspensions” and appealed to the teacher unions so that the announced rolling strikes are not carried out as planned.
Mr. Arvanitopoulos accused the opposition parties of petty politics and announced his intention of submitting an amendment which is purported to ensure teachers’ posts. The Minister was highly critical of the actions of teacher federation OLME and defending the government’s choices.
