Experimental, model schools set to double

The number of “model” and “experimental” schools is set to almost double come the next school year 2021-22, with a total of 50 to be added to the 62 already in operation.

According to the Education Ministry, the purpose of such schools, which were abolished in 2015 by the previous SYRIZA administration, is to set higher teaching and learning standards than regular schools and to cater to students with a particular aptitude for education. “From the beginning, we sought to expand their network, in order to enable more and more children across the country to become members of a school community that aims to improve public education as a whole,” Education Minister Niki Kerameus told Kathimerini yesterday.

“The model and experimental schools are laboratories on a national scale for the implementation of innovative, diversified educational methods and tools aimed at the overall upgrade of the quality of the public school and the dissemination of good practices throughout the network of schools around the country,” she added, noting that Greek society has long embraced the institution of model and experimental schools.

Public schools had been invited on February 26 by the Education Ministry to submit applications to become model or experimental institutions.

After assessments on the basis of the quality of their teachers and curriculums and the record of their students in national and international competitions, 41 were selected to become experimental and nine to become model schools. There are currently 34 experimental and 28 model schools in Greece. Admission to the experimental schools will be done by lot, while candidates must sit exams for grades 1 and 4 of model high schools.