Recent Advances in the Greek Special Education System: A Critical Review

Abstract

Over the past decade, Greece has implemented significant reforms in its special education system, driven by a national commitment to promote inclusive education and ensure equitable access for students with disabilities and special educational needs. This critical literature review explores the key developments shaping this transformation, including recent legislative initiatives, evolving policy frameworks, and the practical deployment of support services within mainstream educational settings. The review synthesizes findings from current academic research, government reports, and educational policy documents to evaluate the effectiveness of these reforms. While notable progress has been made—particularly in the areas of parallel support, early intervention, and teacher training, ongoing challenges persist. These include uneven resource distribution, infrastructural limitations, and societal attitudes that continue to hinder full inclusion. The review concludes by emphasizing the need for sustained investment, better implementation strategies, and expanded research to inform future policy. It offers insights that are valuable for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders committed to advancing inclusive education in Greece.

Received: 8 May 2025 | Revised: 30 June 2025 | Accepted: 16 September 2025 

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Natalia Kougia: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration. Lambrini Seremeti: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration. Ioannis Kougias: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration.