ATHENS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets across Greece on Wednesday, demanding higher state funding for education, better facilities and less-crowded classrooms, echoing protesters in other European countries.
About 10,000 demonstrators, including school and university students, rallied peacefully in central Athens and suburbs, police said. Others joined rallies in cities across the country, all voicing their solidarity with growing protests in France and elsewhere
in Europe over soaring living costs and over what they called crumbling school conditions.
The protests add pressure on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right government, which faces elections in mid-2027, as Greeks struggle with stagnant wages, high rents and rising energy costs years after the country's debt crisis.
"From Greece to France, we want public, free education," protesters chanted as they gathered outside parliament. Students had set up tents in central Athens' Syntagma Square and staged an overnight protest before Wednesday's march.
State school and hospital operations were disrupted as some primary school teachers and doctors walked out, protesting over pay and staff shortages.
Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said before the protests that she was hearing students' demands. She acknowledged housing costs were putting pressure on Greek households and said projects worth more than €733 million ($823 million) were underway for new student residences and facilities upgrades.
Greece has recovered from a 2009-2018 debt crisis, when wages and education spending were cut under austerity in exchange for three international bailouts worth about €290 billion. Salaries have increased since, but real purchasing power for many Greeks is still among the lowest in the EU and has taken a fresh blow from rising inflation and soaring fuel prices linked to the Iran war.
The average monthly salary of €1,500 ($1,685) remains stuck at the 2009 level and many young Greeks have been priced out of housing in cities by skyrocketing rents.
"Surviving here is very difficult, the rent is really high, the houses are really small. Our parents can’t make ends meet to pay for our rent, the electricity, for our life here," said university student Georgia Foukidou, 21, who joined the protest in Athens.
The demonstrations follow days of protests in France and Albania, where anger over rising living costs and perceived corruption has led to clashes and heavy property damage.
Protests in Greece have been largely peaceful in recent months. Mitsotakis' government has said state subsidies and other aid to prop up households and businesses against rising energy costs would reach about €1 billion.
($1 = 0.8903 euros)
(Reporting by Angelos Tsatsis and Valentini Anagnostopoulou; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)
