Greek Households Spend Nearly €800 Million Annually on Foreign Language Education

Greek families are pouring an estimated €777 million a year into foreign language education - yet the country’s public schools offer the fewest language instruction hours in the EU, forcing households to shoulder the burden of a system that appears both present on paper and absent in practice.

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a country where education is seen as a gateway to opportunity, Greek families are investing heavily in foreign language learning—spending an estimated €777 million each year. This marks a sharp increase of 12.6% compared to 2022, and 9.1% over the past decade, despite years of economic instability and the lasting effects of the pandemic. According to a recent report by the Centre for the Development of Educational Policy (KANEP-GSEE), this ongoing investment reflects how deeply Greek households value foreign language proficiency, particularly as a tool for academic and professional advancement.

Yet the outcomes of this financial commitment are underwhelming. While Greeks rank high in English proficiency across the European Union, their performance in overall multilingualism remains disappointingly low. The primary reason, the report argues, is that Greece’s public education system has largely withdrawn from meaningful foreign language instruction.

Compared to its EU counterparts, Greece offers the least amount of classroom time for foreign languages—just 1.8 hours per week, according to OECD data (PISA 2018). This is half the OECD average and places the country at the very bottom of the EU rankings. The result is that the burden of foreign language learning has shifted almost entirely to the private sector. Language schools, or K.X.G. (Foreign Language Centers), have become essential to filling the gaps left by under-resourced public schools. Both parents and students acknowledge this reality: nearly 30% of parents and 27% of young people believe that public schools fail to teach foreign languages effectively, and roughly half view private language centers as the only reliable path to fluency.

Support for greater public involvement is overwhelming. Over 92% of parents and nearly 90% of students back the idea of public schools preparing students for Greece’s State Certificate of Language Proficiency, a task currently handled almost exclusively by private institutions.

However, access to this form of education is not equal. The KANEP-GSEE report highlights a growing divide based on household income. Families earning less than €750 per month have reduced their language education spending by 23% over the last ten years, underscoring the economic barriers faced by the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, middle-income households—those earning up to €2,200 per month—have steadily increased their spending, despite the rising cost of living. For many, the expense has become non-negotiable. Single-parent families, low-income groups, and households with multiple children are especially hard hit, often dedicating a disproportionate share of their income to cover these educational needs.

In terms of coverage, Greece does show strong figures—at least on the surface. Nearly all students in primary and lower secondary education receive foreign language instruction. In primary schools, over 98% of pupils were learning at least one foreign language as of 2022, and impressively, around one in three students was studying two or more—more than five times the EU average. This expansion is largely due to the introduction of English instruction from first grade and the later addition of a second foreign language.

The trend continues in lower secondary education, where 99% of students study at least one language, and 96% are enrolled in two or more—well above the EU average of 60%. Even in upper secondary general education, the number of students learning two or more languages surged to 64% in 2022, up from a mere 2.7% in 2013. Nevertheless, Greece still ranks only 18th in the EU in this category, suggesting that other nations have more consistent policies when it comes to promoting multilingualism at this level.

English is the dominant language taught in Greek schools, with near-universal coverage. French and German are the primary second-language options, with student enrollment almost evenly split between the two. These participation rates are significantly higher than EU averages for both languages. However, languages like Spanish remain virtually absent from the Greek curriculum, in contrast to their more widespread presence across Europe.

Despite the seemingly strong participation rates, the low number of instructional hours tells a different story. Greece’s foreign language teaching suffers from a paradox: near-universal inclusion in the curriculum, but minimal actual teaching time. This contradiction erodes the quality and effectiveness of public language education and drives families toward private alternatives.

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