Do you need to leave your accommodation, or are you planning to change your address before the beginning of the new school year?
Here is what is important to know in order to make sure that your kid registers in another school to continue his/her education.
Even if you were asked to leave your accommodation, if you find a new place somewhere nearby, in the same area, your kids may not have to change schools.
According to the Greek Ministry of Education, school attendance for children aged from 5 to 15 years old is obligatory. This means that a change of address is not a reason to quit school. So, if necessary, it is important to start preparing for the school transfer process as soon as possible.
Registering your children to another school to continue their education is quite simple. All you need to have is the information on your child’s previous school enrollment.
Who needs to know that I am moving to a different address?
First, you need to inform the school principal at the school where your kids have been registered and also inform the Refugee Education Coordinator. Both need to be aware of any change of address so they can prepare all the necessary paperwork for the school transfer (“metagrafi” in Greek) to complete.
What papers do I need?
The school principal may provide a “certificate of school attendance”, but even if not, the report with your child’s grades (“elenchos” in Greek) provides all the information needed in order to complete a school transfer.
You get this school grades report:
- Every 3 months for primary school
- Every 4 months for junior high school and lyceum
- At the end of each school year, around the mid of June, you will get a final report with your kids’ school grades throughout the school year.
Keep all mid-year reports and the final year grades’ reports gathered in one place. These documents will be needed further on your kid’s educational path.
What if my kids attended afternoon classes?
All children who have attended afternoon reception classes (the so-called DYEP), will get a certificate of attendance at the end of the school year.
You will need this certificate of attendance in order to facilitate school registration in your new area.
Is there a deadline for the school transfer?
If you know the exact address where you are moving to, you can enroll your kids at a new school from the beginning of the school year until the end of the first quarter (January 20). However, for those living in camp facilities, it can be up to ten (10) days before the end of the school year in June. After this date, schools are closing down for the summer.
If you are moving during July and August and don’t know your new address yet, enrollment will start again on the 1st of September.
In any case, you will need to identify the nearest school, meet with the school principal and present your kid’s school grades record for the enrollment process to start.
Where can I ask for support with this process?
For the school transfer or any other education-related process, you can ask for support from an education NGO or a refugee education coordinator.
Services
Visit our Service map to look for services provided to asylum seekers and refugees, such as health services, information and support services, legal services, educational services, women, girls and children’s services etc. For your search, you need to follow the below steps:
- In the "Region" tab, you can choose your location area in Greece, such as Attica, Western Macedonia, Crete etc.
- In the "City" tab, you can choose your city in the region, such as Athens, Thessaloniki etc.
- In the "All Services" tab, you can choose among services such as community centres that provide activities free of charge, legal actors, languages classes for free, public hospitals and social and health services provided by NGO's.
Please note that the Service Map provides information in English, but you can send us a message on Facebook to direct you to NGOs, service providers and public services according to your needs.
Contact the Ministry of Education's Refugee Education Coordinator if you live in a camp. If you do not know who that person is in your camp, reach out to the site manager or to the UNHCR team and ask them to connect you with the Ministry of Education's Refugee Education Coordinator.