Michaelidou asks for 5% increase to education ministry’s budget

Education Minister Athena Michaelidou on Friday asked the House finance committee to approve a five-per-cent increase to her ministry’s budget, which, if approved, will amount to just shy of €1. 7 billion next year. “Through a coherent reform plan, we are seeking to free the education system from the logic of fragmented actions and are working towards a holistic framework, adopting a new culture of adequacy and efficiency,” she told the committee.

She added that her ministry’s budget “serves this strategy precisely”, and is “a tool for implementing our reform policy, with clear priorities, targeted investments, scientific documentation, and continuous evaluation”. In this budget, she said, a total of €53 million has been allocated to school infrastructure, an increase of €10 million on this year’s budget, with her ministry “planning upgrades to school facilities and the implementation of 23 large-scale projects”. Additionally, she said the ministry is planning to implement a free breakfast programme for children, and that social workers will be deployed to schools with “high rates of delinquency” so as to “support pupils and…