Marietta Giannakou Member of the National Parliament (Athens A’Constituency) On March 10 2004, the Honorable Marietta Giannakou was appointed as the Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece. Prior to this, she served as the Minister of Health, Welfare and Social Security. A graduate of Medical Studies at the University of Athens, Minister Giannakou has been a member of the European Parliament since 1984 and for many years has been deeply involved in the combat against drugs, and in women’s rights campaigns, nationally and within the European context. She is a founding member of the Women Scientist Union and of ONNED (Nea Demokratia Youth Organization), and belongs to several international political organizations.

Education and the key role of teachers

According to the Lisbon Summit in 2000, EU by 2010 should be “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. Achieving this goal requires a well planned and well executed, coordinated, educational policy.

On the basis of the Member States’ contributions, the Commission and the Council set out 3 strategic goals and defined 13 associated objectives for the future. It is not accidental that the first goal -“Improving the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems in the EU”- includes the training of teachers. The European policy makers have realized that teachers are in the core of this reformative and competitive process. Teachers and trainers become guides, mentors and mediators in a society characterized by competitiveness, fluidity and abundance of information and quick rejection of knowledge. They do not function anymore within narrow national limits but have to offer education to youngsters who will be citizens of supranational unions, such as the EU, who will probably live in a country other than the one they were born and will change profession many times in their life. Simultaneously, teachers as employees have to adapt in a process of life-long training so that they will be able to respond in ever-changing, social-economic conditions and secure employment and professional development.

Greece, as a member of the European Union, is rapidly moving towards this aspect. During the Greek Presidency the “Training of Teachers” has been the main subject of Ministerials and other Educational Actors’ Meetings outstanding of which were the Informal Council of European Ministers in Athens (12/03/2003), the Meeting of the European Ministers and the Ministers of South-East Europe in Nicosia (27-28/06/2003) and the Conference concerning “Quality of Education – Teachers Professional Training and Development” (Athens 23/06/2003).

Unlike other European countries, in Greece there is a constant high supply of teachers in all sectors of education.

The Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs (MNERA), aiming at the continuous improvement of the quality of education, acknowledged the importance of teachers’ in-service training. Teacher’s in-service training positions available increased, providing training courses related to ICT’s, Health education, Environmental education, Vocational Guidance and School Library Management.