The People’s Rally of Syros-Hermoupolis for the state of the school buildings

In a dramatic way, in just a few months, the critical issues of the building and logistical infrastructure in the schools of Syros are coming back to the fore. After the injury of a student at the GEL last November and the falling of plasters at the nursery school of Xirokampos, we have a third incident, threatening the safety of children and workers again in Xirokampos which finally led to the closure of the station.

The admission of the Municipal Authority, through the mouth of the competent authorized municipal councillor, that if they do not proceed with a direct award, since the tender is currently barren, by May 31st the 200,000 euros of the “FILODIMOS” program will be lost and that “the Municipality will not will be able to carry out with its own resources all the interventions that the buildings of our structures need” shows the impasses of the government policy that it accepts and implements.

It is about the policy of underfunding for repairs and maintenance of school buildings, understaffing of technical services, which has led schools to a marginal state. The result is that the municipality becomes a pawn in the games of highly paid contractors and the citizens, their needs and their safety, are satisfied only when it suits the pocket of the contractors.

This situation did not fall from the sky. It is an offshoot of the perennial policies of the central state, adopted and implemented by the municipal authorities in recent years.

Nothing can be prioritized above the safety of children.

We appeal, once again, to the Municipal Authority and the corresponding services and call on them to immediately record the problems in the school units of all levels, so that the necessary actions can be taken that will make the schools absolutely safe for students and teachers. To carry out the necessary repair and restoration works immediately fa school complexes of the island.

We must say “Enough is enough!” Enough with the underfunding, the understaffing, the discount in meeting our needs!

Here and now let’s demand all the necessary state funding for the repair of the school units and to cover their needs and at the same time the recruitment of all the necessary permanent staff for the restoration and the orderly operation of the school units.

We call on parents, teachers and students not to settle for the situation, not to wait for the next “accident”, but to step forward and claim safe schools for all children.

Dimitris Vambakouris