ATHENS – Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday met with a delegation from the Greek federation of state secondary school teachers (OLME) at the party's headquarters in Athens.

The meeting focused on the opening of schools and the government's omnibus bill on education.

Tsipras expressed his party's disagreement with and objections to the bill, pointing out the "huge rush" to submit this to parliament in the midst of the pandemic.

He also noted that there are other major challenges during the current period, such remote working.

Regarding online learning, he said its use was correct during the lockdown period but that it can't be a substitute for 'live learning" in classrooms and he underlined the need to strengthen state education, where he noted that many teaching posts remain unfilled.

On his part OLME's president Theodoros Tsouchlos accused the government of "total silence" for one and a half month, during which it failed to engage or speak with teachers' unions despite the earth-shattering events that were taking place.