Μake us preferred on Google A special education school in Athens is operating inside two converted warehouses near the National Rehabilitation Center, in conditions parents say fail to meet the needs and dignity of their children. The Unified Special Vocational Junior and Senior High School (ENEEGYL) of Ilion serves 70 students who are on the autism spectrum or have other learning difficulties.
“This school serves children with autism, specific learning difficulties, ADHD, and mild intellectual disability — children who can be educated and go on to live independently,” said Meni Papoutsi, president of the parents’ association, in comments to To Vima.
“They have the potential to advance educationally, but current conditions discourage them from reaching that potential. They live cut off from the social fabric, as if they were lepers on a modern-day Spinalonga.” Papoutsi recalled her child’s reaction on first seeing the building: “Mom, are you taking me to an institution? Where’s the school?”
The first warehouse contains two small classrooms and the principal’s office, but no restroom — students must cross to the neighboring building regardless of weather. Those restrooms, in poor repair, have doors that do not close and are shared between boys and girls, discouraging students from using them. Requests for portable toilets have gone unanswered.
The second, larger building still lacks capacity: two sections had to be created for first-year students, forcing some living nearby in Ilion and Agioi Anargyroi to commute instead to Peristeri or Aigaleo. The senior high school operates at half capacity, missing two of its four grades for lack of classroom space; parents are still waiting for the municipality to partition two rooms — currently used for physiotherapy and computers — with drywall.
Occupational therapy and psychological counseling sessions take place in the kitchen for lack of dedicated space. Until recently, recess was held on the street outside the school, with teachers directing traffic, before the municipality fenced off the area last August.
Parents have identified a suitable alternative building and are requesting relocation, but the process remains stalled.
