On June 15, Giannis Semertzidis said goodbye to his students for the summer. A few days later, he put on an apron and started working at as waiter at a restaurant. In September, if he is lucky enough to be among those hired in the first recruitment round, he will return to the classroom. Not the same classroom as last year, of course.

Until then, however, Greece’s unemployment benefits are not enough to cover rent, bills, and everyday expenses. As a result, he chooses to work in the hospitality sector, where he can earn more money. Giannis is 29 years old, a special education teacher in primary school, and, as he tells TO VIMA, “there has not been a single day when I have not thought about leaving the education sector forever.”

He loves his job and adores working with children. Yet, during the four years he has spent as a substitute teacher, he has encountered obstacles that have made him reconsider his decision to pursue a career in education.

His situation is far from unique. For thousands of substitute teachers in Greece, the end of the school year does not mean rest, but marks the beginning of a second period of employment.

The financial pressure, however, is not limited to the summer months. As four substitute teachers told TO VIMA, for many, a second—or even third—job has become part of their daily lives, even during the school year.

A second job becomes a necessity

“I have never had just one job. After school, there are always private lessons or a performance at a concert,” says Georgia Chasioti from Thessaloniki. She has been a substitute teacher for eight years and now only applies for schools near her because, as she explains, “for those who are placed far from their homes, the situation is quite disheartening, with announcements often being made just two days before they have to report for duty.”

On the islands, the pressure is even greater. She explains that there are many cases where substitute teachers are forced to leave their accommodation before their contracts have even ended.

“Many of my friends temporarily live in tents on the beach or even inside their cars,” she says.

In this environment of uncertainty, the need for a second source of income is not a choice, but almost a necessity. For Georgia, that second income comes from music.

“Music is both an escape and a necessary source of income. I play at festivals or even on the street, although I always worry that I might be fined. The truth is that without this money, I would not be able to get by,” she says.

Her involvement with music continues during the summer. In previous years, she worked at beach bars and summer camps because the pay was higher than unemployment benefits. One year, when she decided to rely only on unemployment support and income from music performances, her first benefit payment arrived at the beginning of August, leaving her to cover expenses for weeks with whatever she could earn from playing music.

What happens if I want to have a child?

The difficulties, however, do not end with the need for a second job. What actually happens to female substitute teachers who decide to have children?

Job insecurity combines with gaps in the system, creating an even more demanding daily reality. This is confirmed by the story of Christina M., who became a mother three months ago.

During the school year, she had to arrange a monthly trip from the island where she taught to the nearest city in order to undergo the necessary medical checkups.

Because of ferry schedules, each trip required at least two days of leave.

Christina, a substitute teacher and professional athlete, spent this school year on a Greek island where there was no permanent gynecologist available to monitor her pregnancy.

“The primary education authority suggested that I take sick leave so I could travel and complete my medical examinations,” she explains.

Every ultrasound meant travel, ferry tickets, and additional expenses, while she was trying to manage a pregnancy away from her family.

As if that were not enough, she also faced another consequence of her employment status. She explains that “because of the special leave provided before and after childbirth, I was not insured with social security contributions for around four months, which meant I did not meet the necessary requirements to receive unemployment benefits this summer.”

And that is where questions about the new school year begin.

Christina, who, around two months before schools reopen, has still not found a solution for balancing family and work, says: “If there is no place in a daycare center for my child, there is a possibility that I will remain unemployed, because I will not be able to apply for certain positions this year, such as those on remote islands.”

“You collect degrees only to end up as a waiter”

Although the cases of substitute teachers may differ, they all share one common issue: the absence of a stable system that takes their personal circumstances into account.

For Marianthi V., a special education substitute teacher for the past four years, summer is not a break, it is simply a change of workplace.

“The concept of rest has almost disappeared from our daily lives. There is truly no period when you can relax. A teacher needs emotional reserves to cope with the school year, but there is never enough time to rebuild them,” she says, describing a constant cycle between teaching during the school year and working in hospitality during the summer.

“Schools may close, but expenses keep running,” she says.

“You collect degrees, master’s degrees, doctorates, foreign languages, and in the end you become a waiter just to survive.”

The uncertainty continues

For substitute teachers in Greece, the end of the school year is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new period of uncertainty.

It is an uncertainty that returns every year, between classrooms that empty in June and temporary jobs that fill the summer months. September brings new suitcases, relocations, and new placements. Along with it comes a return to the classroom—not always the same one, and not always in the same city.

And somewhere between recruitment lists, unemployment benefits, and second jobs, the education of an entire country ends up relying on people who enter classrooms carrying not only their teaching responsibilities, but also the daily anxiety of making ends meet.