By Marina Rizogiannis and Prokopis Kogos
At the center of research of the Directorate of Secondary Achaia found yesterday the negative development of planned trips abroad Vrachneika High School and Paralia 2nd High School.
As pointed out by “P”, students from the two schools were scheduled to travel last Friday to neighboring Italy. Unfortunately for them, however, the agency that had taken over their travel arrangements shortly before their departure, he informed them that he had no buses available.
This caused an uproar in school communities which in the end were the two of Vrachneikos and the 2nd Gymnasium of Paralia. This matter did not concern the school community of the 2nd Lyceum of Patras as reported by the relevant information on Friday night and by extension it was written in the relevant report on Saturday. Finally, the Vrachneikos High School implemented its trip with another agency on Saturday, but the 2nd Paralia High School had not made any other planning until yesterday.
This issue was brought to the fore bythe discussion on the procedures and conditions for the organization and implementation of the school trips.
Asked about it director of the Secondary Education of Achaia, Eugenia Pierri, stated that “we had immediate information about the incident and for our part we did the relevant checks in order to establish whether there is responsibility of the competent school boards. From the minutes and contracts we saw yesterday, we found that on the part of the schools, everything had been done legally and the required procedures had been followed. Therefore, responsibility rests with the agency».
To our question how the agency is chosenMs. Pierri reported that “an announcement is made and offers are submitted by the tourist offices. The offers are opened by a special committee which is established and which consists of the school director, the teachers – accompanying the excursion, a representative of the school’s Parents’ Association and a representative of the students. The selection is made with qualitative and quantitative criteria and of course there is also the scope for objections. A contract is then signed in which the obligations of both parties are described.”
Also, when the field trip is completed, the school is asked to file agency evaluation report, to record any omissions and inconsistencies.
“Until now we have not recorded a similar problem. This is the reason why I asked that we check all the minutes and contracts to see if there was any omission or misunderstanding on the part of the school communities.
But we found that the agency bears the responsibility and is now accountable to the families of our students. There was a verbal commitment to return the money, but we are waiting to see it in practice.”
However, there are not a few teachers who believe that the school trips file should be opened. To discuss all the parameters concerning the organizers, the purposes, the participants and much more in relation to the general functioning of the school.
“The agencies of Patras are reliable”
On the occasion of the commotion that arose in the previous days regarding schools of Achaia, which were left in the “cold bath” at the last minute and one of the two never traveled to its destination, it has been opened big talk about travel agencies.
Those involved are wondering what their role is in school field trips and how they can ensure that the program runs smoothly.
The “Peloponnisos” contacted Giorgos Papakonstantinou, vice-president of the Association of Tourist Bus Owners and special advisor of the Federation of Tourist Offices and Buses of Greece, who has experience in the matter.
George Papakonstantinou stated: “I know a lot about school trips and what I can tell you is that the vast majority of Patras travel agencies are reliable.
I don’t want to comment on the agencies from other cities, but what I will say is this: school directors and parent and funeral associations should not only look at the best financial offer, but also the conditions of conducting an excursion.
The owners of the tourist agencies of Patras are not short-sighted when they give a slightly higher price than agencies in other areas, as they also know the quality of services offered to excursionists.
Many incidents have been recorded where agencies take the tour business, giving a lower price at the beginning and then changing the program, raising the final cost.
For me, the directors of the school units, as well as the Directorates of Education of Achaia, should better control which offers are given and if these are subsequently implemented by the agencies.
And, of course, for those professionals who change the program and the data of the offer, complaints should be made to the competent bodies, so that the schools know who is reliable before making their choices.”
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