The meeting of the President of the Republic concluded at the Presidential Palace Katerina Sakellaropoulou with the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as part of regular monthly updates.

Mr. Mitsotakis mentioned the government’s desire to install pilot lockers in schools for students to lock their cell phones, as it is something he has discussed with the Minister of Education.

“I consider the government’s commitment to ban the use of mobile phones during school very important. From the moment the child goes to school until he leaves. We mean it when we say the mobile phone in the bag. It is not simply an expectation and of course the issue is not punitive. I saw that today the first expulsion came in,” the prime minister pointed out, adding that “the issue is for everyone to realize – the teachers and professors, the parents and the children themselves – that this helps the student process”.

“That’s why we want parents’ associations as allies in this effort. I have spoken to the Minister for Education and I am very positive that if there are such requests from parents’ associations that we supply an initially limited number of pilot schools with lockers so that children can lock their mobiles when they go to school and take them when they leave .However, it is important that these actions are not imposed from top to bottom, but that they have the response of the school community itself”, he concluded.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ discussion with Katerina Sakellaropoulou in detail:

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS: Let’s say good autumn, Madam President, I imagine now, the weather helps a little. I wanted, on this occasion, to first inform you quickly about a subset of the announcements I made at the Thessaloniki International Fair, which I consider to have a particularly important social impact. They are particularly important, because we use resources from the Recovery Fund for a series of actions, which are at the core of our social policy.

Let me start with the “My House 2” program, where we managed and secured a billion in additional resources from the Recovery Fund, together with the one billion that the banks will provide, we are talking about a program of two billion, which aims to get around 20,000 of our fellow citizens their home with a mortgage cost that will be lower than they would pay if they rented a similar home. The program “My Home 1”as you know, was very successful and we now aspire to be able to double the beneficiaries by significantly broadening the criteria as well. And at the same time to allocate 400 million for home repairs through an interest-free loan, essentially without income criteria, so that our fellow citizens can make energy upgrades either in houses they own, or in apartments which may be closed and which they can with in this way to utilize them, so that we can increase the supply of apartments.

The second action, to which I attach great importance, is the evening surgeries financed by the Recovery Fund. You know that the institution has already started, but it is of great importance to be able to enable our fellow citizens who do not have the financial comfort, especially those who have been waiting a long time for a planned operation, to do it and the cost of the afternoon
operating theatre, a benefit for doctors who operate in the afternoon, to be disbursed from the Recovery Fund. After a difficult negotiation, we hope that in November we will have the final confirmation of this decision, so that we can immediately start the afternoon surgeries.

And the third one to which we attach great importance has to do with the more general actions that have to do with the use of technology in education.

Already the interactive boards have entered almost 30,000 schools, also financed by the Recovery Fund. Yesterday I was at the Ministry of Education to present the first digital tutorial for 3rd high school children, free of charge, with very experienced teachers. An extra help for children in remote areas, for children whose families cannot spend the money to have extra tutoring support. I consider that they are all actions with a strong social footprint, which demonstrate in the best possible way that the resources of the Recovery Fund, so important for the country, are not only directed to important infrastructure projects, but also go to actions that help us to reduce the inequalities. And I think this has a special significance, as the new European cycle is now starting. As you know, yesterday the portfolios of the new Commission were announced. Greece got the portfolio related to sustainable transport, shipping and tourism. For obvious reasons, a portfolio very important for our country, which aspires to play a role as a gateway to the entire central and eastern Mediterranean, very important for our shipping. Very important that for the first time there is also the official one
recognition of the European dimension of tourism. And this portfolio will go to a Greek Commissioner, so this, in combination with the many actions that we must undertake in the next five years in the context of the report that Mr. Draghi wrote, a report that I fully support, a very ambitious report , which directly confronts Europe with its weaknesses.

I think there is now a canvas, I would say, where the interests of Greece intersect with important priorities that Europe must undertake in the next five years.

KATERINA SAKELLAROPOULOU: Mr. President, public policies must be drawn up based on social justice and everything you mentioned is important. Housing, access to health, access to education, equal access to all these goods, it is very important to support them and thus any measures taken are in the right direction. The new couples, everyone can have the health they need, the health services they need and of course we have to ensure the necessary infrastructure for all of this. I hope that the necessary measures will be taken.

In the matter of education, digital technology is of course something that we do not want to go to, we have already gone, and there one must take advantage of the opportunities and it is very important to have measures against the risks.

Another issue that I would like to highlight at this time, and you have seen it in the Government and the Ministry of Education, is the issue of bullying in schools. And there it is good to emphasize that there must be necessary cooperation between teachers and parents. Because education is the first step in forming a society. So the cooperation of the parents is very important in order to be able to prevent these phenomena that affect both the children’s psyche and the education process. As far as Europe is concerned, which, as we see, is going through a period full of challenges, we wish the best in the next term of the Commission and of course to the Greek Commissioner. It is important, as you mention, and I am happy for the empowerment of the country with the portfolio entrusted to him. So let’s hope for the best really, because the challenges are many, we are in a difficult time for Europe, but I would say for the whole world.

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS: If I may, a brief remark on the issue of bullying. As you recall, last year we introduced the Stop Bullying platform, which had a very significant response, and we have handled many incidents within the school environment with discretion, as these circumstances always require.

But I also consider the Government’s commitment to ban the use of mobile phones during school very important, from the moment the child goes to school until he leaves, we mean it when we say the mobile in the bag, it is not just a expectancy.

And of course the issue is not punitive, if it will be entered, I saw that today a first expulsion was entered, that is not the issue. The issue is for everyone, the teachers and the professors, the parents first and above all the children themselves, to realize that this ultimately helps the student process itself, which is why we want the Parents’ Associations to be allies in this effort and, why not, let’s go a few steps further.

I have discussed with the Minister of Education and I am very positive that if there are such requests from Parents’ Associations that we supply a limited number of schools, in the first instance, with lockers, so that children can lock their mobiles when they go to school and to take them when they leave. However, it is important that these actions are not imposed from top to bottom, but that they have the response of the school community itself. And because I saw that this measure has great acceptance, it is a bet for all of us to win it and to be able to put it into practice, not punitively, but because in this way we will help our children.

KATERINA SAKELLAROPOULOU: Self-commitment is much more important than sanctioning, that’s true. I hope everyone understands that it is for the good of the educational community and ultimately of the children themselves.