The Institution of Free School Meals in Times of Crisis in Greece (1924-1964): A Historical and Social Pedagogical Dimension

Abstract

The outbreak of cases of famine among pupils at school during the previous two years, preoccupied seriously the members of the educational community as well as the appropriate state agencies, and raised the awareness of the Greek society to a large extent. Motivated by the recent actions of the Ministry of Education to face these problems, memories and discussions concerning various social pedagogical actions developed in Greece during periods of crisis have emerged. One of them was the free school meals which functioned for decades in Greece, aiming at the management of malnutrition among students. The aim of the present study is to highlight a) the paramount importance function of free school meals in times of crises, during which the population’s malnutrition and especially that of pupils was taking life-threatening dimensions b) the efforts made for free school meals to function on a social pedagogical basis both by the state which took the necessary measures (the adoption of the necessary institutional framework, providing the relevant economic recourses, etc.) by the Church, charitable, private and other entities c) the social pedagogical awareness of Greek society and of educators themselves, aiming at the support and the expansion of school free meals and d) the strong social pedagogical reflexes displayed by Greek society on this issue and including the initiatives of students in Teacher Training Schools, who would be later called upon to teach and educate the future citizens of the country.