After Lesvos and Samos, it was finally possible for our children hosted in Chios to enroll in school.
Today, in METAdrasi’s accommodation facility in Chios, the only shelter for unaccompanied minors on an island with huge needs in terms of support and care for unaccompanied children, prevails great enthusiasm, since our children have started their classes at school!
In the 1st EPAL (Vocational-Technical School) of Chios, a reception class was created for 12 minors of our shelter. An interpreter from METAdrasi’s team accompanied them to meet any communication needs.
After a guided tour around the school, the Head of Secondary Education of Chios, Eftychia Vlassidou, being also a philologist, undertook the task of teaching Greek to minors herself, due to a lack of teachers (read and listen to her moving words in ).
Four younger children of the shelter started their classes in the 1st Middleschool of Chios, in a reception class, along with other arabic-speaking and farsi-speaking refugee children. Young Naimar*, who has been hosted in our facitily for more than a year and already knows Greek, proudly undertook the interpreter’s duties!
“We are all very excited,” says Matina, head of the accommodation facility. The same joy is shared by all the members of METAdrasi’s team in Chios, who help daily: our interpreters, lawyers and, of course, the members of the Guardianship Network for Unaccompanied Minors that support the children and played an important role in this effort. We are very grateful to the teachers and the Public Prosecutor of Chios Spyridoula Stavratis for their valuable contribution.
We wish all children in Greece to have access to education and to draw joy from their little day-to-day achievements!
*The name was changed in order to protect the child’s personal data