“A field tri-i-i-ip!” The childhood or teenage chorus echoing through school playgrounds will soon be heard more often. The Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, through two new ministerial decisions by Minister Sofia Zacharaki, is establishing a new, unified framework for school trips and educational excursions across Primary and Secondary Education. For the first time in Primary Education, the total number of school trips cannot be fewer than six per class per school year, strengthening the experiential dimension of the educational process. In Secondary Education, school trips are now also linked to active citizenship initiatives — educational excursions can include activities such as emergency response assistance, charitable and solidarity actions, urban renewal projects, as well as environmental clean-up and nature conservation efforts.
At least 6 school trips a year for primary schools
If a school faces financial difficulties, it can partner with another school and share the costs. Special provisions have also been made for Special Education schools, with the aim of meaningfully facilitating student participation in educational excursions. The minimum required student participation rate for a school trip to proceed has been reduced from 70% to 50%. At the same time, child protection measures are being strengthened, while a clearer framework is being established within which accompanying teachers can carry out their supervisory responsibilities safely.
What the new framework provides
Among other provisions, the new framework requires both the owner and staff of the travel agency accompanying students to submit criminal background checks. The use of mobile phones and other electronic devices during school trips is also explicitly regulated: if a student photographs, films, or records other participating students without their consent, a specific procedure for deactivating and securing the device is in place. The device is returned to the parent or guardian upon the completion of the trip.
What Sofia Zacharaki highlighted
In this way, the safeguarding rules that protect the school community extend beyond the classroom walls, following both students and teachers. Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki spoke of a school that is open to society and the world, while emphasizing that “greater opportunities also mean greater responsibility. That is why, with this new framework, we are strengthening and tightening safety safeguards for educational excursions. We want our children to participate and gain new experiences safely, and we want the teachers who take on the responsibility of accompanying them to have clear rules, defined procedures, and the necessary institutional protection to carry out their work.”
Published in Apogeumatini
