School life counsellor
Pursuant to law 4692/2020, at the beginning of each school year, 2 school life counsellors are designated in each secondary education school unit, by decision of the educational co-ordinator. The school life counsellor belongs to the school unit’s teaching staff. He/ She contributes to building trust among the members of the educational community. He/ She is in direct and constant communication with the students under his/her responsibility, the teachers board and teaching staff, as well as the parents and guardians. He/ She acts on request, but also on his/ her own initiative, when he/ she becomes aware of a situation that needs special treatment. He/ She intervenes, guides and informs students, parents and guardians on matters concerning the school unit, such as:
- crisis management and extreme behavior prevention,
- learning difficulties,
- inclusion and integration,
- students with particular capabilities, gifts and talents,
- transition to other grades,
- school mobility,
- counselling and parent groups.
Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counselling and Support Centres (KEDASY)
Pursuant to law 4823/2021, Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counselling and Support Centres (KEDASYs) replaced Educational and Counselling Support Centres (KESYs).
The purpose of KEDASY is to support students, school units and laboratory centres in their area of responsibility so as to ensure equal access to education for all students and to defend their harmonious psychosocial development and progress.
KEDASYs responsibilities are mainly to:
- assess educational needs or barriers to learning of preschool and school-age students, including students with disabilities or special educational needs, as well issue a relevant assessment report.
- to provide advisory support to the teaching, special education and special support staff of primary and secondary schools in matters of best teaching practice, responding to the needs of students with disabilities or special educational needs.
- to enhance students' cognitive skills, preventing school dropout and creating a safe and supportive school culture that promotes students' psychosocial health and emotional well-being.
- Prevent school drop-out and
- Create a safe and supportive school culture that promotes students' psychosocial health and emotional well-being.
KEDASYs monitoring is assigned to a special committee in the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education, which is established by decision of the Regional Director of Education.
Administrative bodies of Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counselling and Support Centres (KEDASYS)
A teacher or a member of the special teaching staff (EEP) is the Head of the KEDASY.
In each KEDASY there is a Plenary Board, consisting of all the teachers and the members of the EEP who serve in KEDASY.
KEDASY's Head is responsible for its administrative operation, while KEDASY's Board is responsible for the scientific and pedagogical operation of KEDASY.
Staff of Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counselling and Support Centres
For KEDASY's staffing there are 1.120 staff posts at the Ministry of Education and Religion Affairs, distributed in the following categories:
- Teachers specializing in special education and training
- Special education staff (EEP)
- Administrative employees
KEDASYs operate from September 1st to July 10th of each school year.
Networks for Educational Support (SDEYs) and Interdisciplinary Support Committees (EDYs)
SDEYs aim to strengthen and promote cooperation, as well as to coordinate the work of school units and laboratory centres, so as to ensure equal access to education for all students without exception and promotion of their overall psychosocial health.
More specifically, SDEYs’ purpose is to:
- promote the cooperation, coordinate the work of school units and empower them to respond to the educational needs of their students,
- develop collaborative actions to integrate students in their school unit and
- support reception classes, parallel support of co-education and homeschooled students, where special education and training is required.
Each SDEY may include up to five (5) school units.
In each SDEYs up to five (5) Interdisciplinary Support Committees (EDY) may operate. The EDY operates in the school unit and aims to develop collaborative practices of educational evaluation of students, counselling and support. Its operation is based on the practices required by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (Law 2101/1992) and the International Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Law 4074/2012).
EDY is established by decision of the Regional Director of Education and consists of the following members, who are appointed with their deputies:
- The Principal or Head of the school unit, as President.
- A special education and training teacher of the reception class or a teacher specializing in special education and training or a parallel support teacher serving in the school unit.
- A psychologist of the PE23 branch.
- A social worker of the PE30 branch.
The secretary of EDY is the secretary of the school unit.
Health education
A health education manager is appointed (upon selection and secondment) for a four-year term for the support of the school units on health education issues in the Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education in Athens (A, B, C, D), Eastern Attica, Western Attica, Piraeus, Eastern Thessaloniki, Western Thessaloniki and Achaia. He/she may be primary or secondary education teachers of all sectors with specialization in health education, serving in a permanent position in a school unit of the directorate of education.
Candidates posts of health education managers can be teachers with twelve years of educational and eight years of teaching service. Of the above eight (8) years of teaching service, at least four (4) years must have been spent at the relevant level of education.
The competent body for the selection is the Local Selection Council, which is formed in each Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education by the Regional Director of Education.
Health Education managers are placed, by decision of the Director of Education, in the Departments of Education in the Educational Departments of the Directorates of Education. They report administratively to the heads of these departments and are supervised in the exercise of their work by the Education Quality Supervisor, in collaboration with the Education Advisor who has the scientific responsibility of the school units of the Directorate of Education.