ATHENS – Greeks are turning more toward enrolling children in private schools and that is bringing attention from domestic and foreign investment funds to create more of them.

There’s been an increase in enrollment, starting in 2017-18, said Kathimerini, particularly in the neighbhoords about the burgeoning development of the abandoned Hellenikon International Airport on the capital’s southeastern coast.
The interest is in a par wit that in 2005-06 when parents turned away from public schools that were frequently disrupted by teacher strikes and student occupations and curricula using memorization over critical thinking.

The paper said only 5.8 percent of students in Greece attend private schools and that investors think that will change and there’s a need for more, especially with expectations of economic growth if the COVID-19 pandemic ends, the health crisis also a reason why parents prefer private settings.

Giorgos Christopoulos, President of the Federation of Private School Teachers in Greece (OIELE) said parents noticed when its members acted swiftly and decisively to protect students in setting up remote learning classes.

That has seen enrollment at the schools go up some 10 percent, said  Charalambos Kyrailidis, President of the Hellenic Association of Independent School, the report noting the establishment of a kindergarten and primary school at Pierce College.

The newspaper also said that a group of tuition centers has expressed interest in establishing a school in Koropi, while two other well-known private schools – one from Attica and one from Thessaloniki – are interested in establishing units in the area of Elliniko, but they weren’t named.

Kyrailidis said foreign funds from Britain and Switzerland have also shown interest in investing in private education in Greece, through merger of small schools.