Editorial – Images

These are not images from either a bygone era, or from some other country.

The images that Ta Nea’s report today describes are from 21st century Greece.

They depict teachers whom circumstances have forced to sleep in their cars, or to rush from school to school, because the time at their disposal to shuttle between the different schools at which they teach is no longer than the 15-minute school break.

These images do not simply confirm that our educational system is ailing. They demonstrate that educators, to whom everyone believes the state should pay special attention, have been left to their own devices.

They show that our fellow citizens, who have undertaken the supreme duty to educate the younger generations, are forced to live almost like nomads, because no one, and above all those whose duty it is to tend to their needs, cares about them in the least.

These images surpass in harshness the archetype of the poor teacher with worn clothes, which was typical many decades ago.

Here, however, we are confronting not a regression, but rather an entirely new reality.

This is the reality of homeless teachers, who have been abandoned to adverse conditions, which the educational system itself creates, due to its irrationality, its chaotic lack of organisation, and its denial of realities.

These images must be eradicated. That is a duty which is self-evident for a 21st century country.