The 1st Conference on Greek Education in the USA, which took place on Saturday, November 9, 2019, was successfully completed at the facilities of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Flushing, New York.
The conference was organised under the auspices of the Holy Archdiocese of America. The president of the Coordinating Committee was the Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod, Bishop of Apostolos of Medeia.
In his address, the Archbishop emphasised the need to fully support all the schools in order to preserve the linguistic, cultural and ethnic identity of our young people, in addition to their religious education.
After a fruitful discussion, the participants concluded that every church and every community should have a school, every community should have a preschool and kindergarten programme or even a nursery school.
It was also agreed that this conference should take place annually.
They also put emphasis on the need to expand cooperation with the Metropolises to promote the homogeneity and effectiveness of educational programmes.
It was also highlighted that there was a need for in-service training courses for teachers before taking up their duties.
It was decided to re-establish the High Council of Greek Education (ASEP) with the help of figures of recognised standing. The Archbishop will take all the necessary steps in order to re-establish the Council.
Appropriate Greek language programs will be prepared for teaching in public educational institutions, the Archdiocese’s teacher training program will be redesigned, perhaps at the Greek College of Boston, and the possibility to add recognised educational programs in US academic institutions will be explored.
It was decided that a Special Fund to support the Greek Education, according to the standards of the Endowment Funds, would be established.