Greek schools open 2026–2027 year with 11 public IB programs and 5,259 permanent teachers

Opening day schedule and reception

Primary and secondary schools across Greece opened on Friday, 11 September 2026, welcoming students for the start of the 2026–2027 academic year. The school day began at 08:15 with the traditional blessing ceremony (agiasmos) across kindergartens, primary schools (dimotika), gymnasiums, and lyceums. Individual school administrations announced specific arrival times for their students. The opening day served primarily as an orientation period, during which students received their weekly schedules, collected their textbooks, and received administrative guidance from teaching staff. Full instructional coursework will commence on Monday, 14 September, when standard timetables take effect.

Staffing levels and union response

The Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports brought in 5,259 newly appointed permanent educators in general and special education, as well as specialized educational and auxiliary staff, ahead of the first bell. In addition, the ministry completed its first round of substitute teacher recruitment, hiring 29,948 substitute teachers. A second phase of substitute teacher appointments is scheduled to conclude before the end of September to address remaining classroom vacancies. Despite these recruitment measures, the Greek Primary Teachers Federation (DOE) announced plans for strike actions, citing ongoing personnel shortages across public schools.

Permanent appointments5,259

Phase 1 substitute hires29,948

Permanent appointments

5259

Phase 1 substitute hires

29948

Data from the article text

Academic programs and digital tutoring

Several structural curricular changes took effect for the 2026–2027 school year, including the introduction of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program across 11 public schools for the first time. The participating institutions include model lyceums in Anavryta, Agioi Anargyroi, Varvakeio, Ionideios, Heraklion on Crete, and the 1st Model Lyceum of Thessaloniki. The program also expanded to the Experimental Lyceum of the University of Macedonia, the Art School of Gerakas, and music schools in Athens, Pallini, and Volos. In total, the ministry implemented 51 new and updated study curricula across primary and secondary levels. For students with exemptions from Religious Education, an Ethics course was introduced from the third grade of primary school through the third year of lyceum. Additionally, third-grade gymnasium students received access to free electronic testing for the State Certificate of Language Proficiency in English, French, German, and Italian.

Textbooks and infrastructure expansion

Distance learning offerings expanded through the Digital Tutoring platform, which entered its third year of operations. Live tutorial sessions were extended to first- and second-year high school students (tenth and eleventh grades), building upon the existing program for third-year lyceum students. In physical education infrastructure, eight new Public Onassis Schools comprising middle and high schools began operations. To inspect the rollout, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports Sofia Zacharaki visited educational institutions in Heraklion, Crete, including two Public Onassis Schools, two facilities under the Marietta Giannakou program, a vocational high school, and an evening general high school. Meanwhile, student textbooks remained identical to the previous year's core editions, containing only typographical corrections and minor linguistic updates, as the multiple-textbook system was not implemented for this term.