A serious problem with school transport has been reported just a few weeks after the start of the school year in the Municipality of Marathon, with 17 routes remaining unstaffed and around 150 pupils at the 2nd Lower Secondary School of Nea Makri alone having no organised transport. Parents are being forced to coordinate amongst themselves, adjust their working hours and call on relatives to get their children to school every day.
The situation has sparked strong reactions in Eastern Attica, with parents staging a protest outside Nea Makri Town Hall on Friday 25 September, calling for an immediate solution.
According to figures released by the Association of Parents’ and Guardians’ Associations of the Municipality of Marathon, the problem affects a total of 17 bus routes and 12 schools, ranging from nursery schools to sixth-form colleges and vocational schools.
Around 150 pupils without transport at the 2nd Lower Secondary School of Nea Makri
The most telling example is that of the 2nd Lower Secondary School of Nea Makri. According to the parents, around 150 of the school’s 195 pupils are not served by the scheduled school bus routes.
The result is that getting the children to school has become a daily family problem. Parents organise themselves in groups of two or three families, sharing the morning and afternoon journeys between them, whilst in many cases grandparents, relatives and friends are called upon to help.
The problem is even greater for families with more than one child, different school timetables, or parents who are unable to take time off work to take their children to and from school.
Which schools are facing problems?
The list published by the Parents’ Association includes, amongst others, Anatoli Primary School, schools in Nea Makri and Agia Marina, Varnava Primary School, schools in Kato Souli, the 2nd Lower Secondary School and the 2nd Upper Secondary School of Nea Makri, as well as the route of the 1st Rafina Vocational Upper Secondary School from Grammatiko, Ano Souli, Marathon and Nea Makri.
Of the 17 unserved routes, according to parents’ figures, five are linked to a contract that is not being fulfilled due to the contractor’s inability to do so, whilst a further 12 are classified as unprofitable, as no contract had been signed for their operation.
**The Attica Region’s response ** The Attica Region attributes the difficulty in providing school transport services in Eastern Attica to a combination of factors: the geographical dispersion of settlements, population growth, a shortage of available drivers and contractors, and the reduced involvement of KTEL in part of the work it previously carried out.
The process of transporting pupils is carried out through public procurement contracts. The Region has launched a Dynamic Purchasing System for the school years 2025–2026, 2026–2027 and 2027–2028, with a total estimated value of 161 million euros, however, on certain routes, no transport operators have come forward or problems have arisen in the execution of the contracts.
Parents are calling for an immediate temporary solution
Parents’ Associations are calling for all routes to be covered immediately, even on a temporary basis, for new tenders to be issued for those routes that remain without a contractor, and for a permanent solution to be put in place so that the same problem does not recur every September.
As regards the Artemida and Spata area, the specific list of 17 routes published by parents in the Municipality of Marathon does not include any schools in the Municipality of Spata-Artemida. However, the issue highlights, more broadly, the difficulties faced by school transport in a geographically extensive Regional Unit such as Eastern Attica.
