e-arsakeio


Books' archway


ep en


harvard




Philekpaideutiki Etaireia was founded in 1836 to embody the girls’ education in schools which was lacking in the newly-established greek state.


Οι ιδρυτέςThe foundation of Philekpaideutiki Etaireia, utopic as it may have seemed under the circumstances, was motivated by three  enlightened “teachers”-: Ioannis Kokkonis, pedagogue with a brilliant educational, administrative and organizing experience, the teacher of the Greek Nation George Gennadios, a school teacher and a man of letters,   scholar and writer and the priest Michail Apostolidis with theological, educational and writing experience- and their proposition was well-received.

As a result, Philekpaideutiki Etaireia in Athens, was sprightfully founded by seventy three great fighters of the Greek Liberation, bishops, politicians, ministerial councilors,   judges and scholars all over Greece.

The “action” of Philekpaideutiki Etaireia

Nowadays it’s probably difficult to understand the educational contribution of  Philekpaideutiki Etaireia from the early years of its foundation and so far. Today the educational system , both in  the public and the private sector, is superintended by the State, which was an impossible goal in the 19thcentury.

Philekpaideutiki Etaireia, as the Greek nation was expanding, took the responsibility to act, realizing the needs of its time. Its operation was not austerely restricted to the capital of the Greek State or to one type of educational institutions. On the contrary, it was in the quest of various ways to offer education to the Greek women, to support the Greek language and the national identity in the recently  liberated areas.

Moreover, especially in a time of crisis, Philekpaideutiki Etaireia offered scholarships, published teaching books, forwarding them to all the schools of the subjugated State, reconstructed churches and gave shelter to the refugees.

Shortly after its foundation Philekpaideutiki Etaireia founded or supported more than forty (40) schools which later became state schools, with the total number of 5.000 girls.

It also established Urban schools, Business schools for women and Business School of Home economics in many areas around Greece, inaugurating the professional education for the Greek women. However, its greatest contribution was in the sector of the teachers’ education with the foundation of the Upper School or the Girls’ Schools since the first year of its foundation. For a period of 63 years Philekpaideutiki Etaireia was the unique foundation which offered the Greek women the opportunity to be educated and respectively to educate the later generations, for the state-run Teaching Training Schools only for boys.

In the 20th century ,due to the alterations in the public sector, the provided state education was assisted serving the Philekpaideutiki Etaireia’s objectives, that is, the women’s and the gradual upgrade education for all the Greek children.

Philekpaideutiki Etaireia, during the 20th century, due to the given conditions and the national needs, continually redefined its objectives, unfailingly providing the Greek society and family, the Greek letters and the arts, the theoretically and practically oriented sciences with graduates who not only had the leading part in all the above sectors but also creatively and actively contributed to their further development. The latest decade forms a new era of dynamic sprightfulness for Filekpaideftiki Etaireia and the Schools moved Filekpaideftiki Etaireia to the reinforcement and expansion of its four firm pylons, the Schools in Psychiko, Ekali, Patras and Thessaloniki, designing new buildings and establishing new schools in Tirana and Ioannina.

In parallel, the new Board of Directors and the President following the tradition and the principles of the Schools, reformed and renewed the services of both the Arsakeio-Tositseia Schools and Philekpaideutiki Etaireia. Moreover, they corroborated the institution of Epopteia with the educational part of the Coordinators who were responsible for the homogeneous education of the 8.500 pupils studying in the five Pre-Primary Schools, in the eleven Primary Schools, in the seven Middle Schools and the eight High Schools of Philekpaideutiki Etaireia.

The establishment of the Book Arcade in the Arsakeio Megaron in the centre of Athens played an important role in the intellectual life of the country. The Schools of Philekpaideutiki Etaireia took initiatives beyond their limits giving the proper guidance to other schools of the Greek State