Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote the following in his usual weekly Sunday Facebook post today:

“I’m going to start this review a little differently. As far as I can, I try to read the comments that you write under these posts. Of course, there are too many of them and I will not claim that I have time to read them all, but I want to dwell on a comment I read a few weeks ago – it was a good hint, or rather, an idea. And I remember that because when I read it, I knew that this idea was already being planned.

I’ll start with this: the commentary said that in Cyprus, a dental check-up for schoolchildren has been accepted for 1 year and that the messages from there are very positive. So I’m happy to tell you that this week we announced Dentist Pass, free preventive dental care for 660,000 children ages 6-12. This is offered for the first time in our country and funded by the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

What does Greece 2.0 have to do with the dental hygiene of young children? He received! Why we included in Greece 2.0 the National Public Health Prevention Program “Spyros Doxiadis”, the first serious and organized prevention and early diagnosis project in our country. We want to change the attitude of society towards health in order to finally emphasize the importance of prevention. Regular visits to the dentist are an important indicator of our children’s care and should not be neglected. Adopting healthy patterns and behaviors from an early age teaches children the importance of prevention, and prevention leads to better health. Which ultimately results in savings for the healthcare system. This is an effort with numerous benefits for society!

The dentist’s pass is something “we didn’t say (before the election) but did.” I’m going to tell you something that you probably don’t hear often from someone in my position: I’m going to tell you about what we “said but didn’t do (yet!)”. Because trusting relationships with citizens are very important to me. As I explained to the people of Korydallos during my visit this week, the Korydallos prison relocation project (which is the project I announced in government policy statements) has not progressed at the pace we wanted and expected. And it is true. This is a project that taught us a lot. It’s not that no progress has been made: the place has been found and the financial instruments are there. So it’s delayed – it’s not done yet. But I am absolutely sure that in the second four-year period we will fulfill this obligation. Prisons will leave Korydallos and the local community wants to use it to build student housing and social housing through the social compensation instrument we voted for in December.

I continue with what has been brewing for a long time, or to be more precise, what should have happened since 1982: the individual evaluation of teachers begins. This process will start with areas where the selection and placement of Educational Advisers has already been completed. These Consultants will begin individual assessments on a priority basis with newly appointed teachers as this is also a condition of their permanence.

A positive assessment will contribute to the recognition and reward of the work of the teacher, who can use it as a graduated criterion for his selection for a responsible position. Those whose score is not satisfactory should receive training based on materials prepared by the Institute for Educational Policy.

So evaluation is not meant to “punish” anyone – it’s meant to recognize and reward our deserving teachers, to motivate everyone and help them get better. Unranked public schools are pushing our kids towards tutoring and private education. I want to emphasize that the assessment is applied in the vast majority of European countries and is expected to significantly improve the educational landscape and modernize the Greek education system. This is what we owe primarily to our children.

This week we also had an auction for 2 large recycling plants – one in the eastern sector of Thessaloniki and one in Larisa. The cost is over 182 million euros and is covered by the Operational Program “Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development 2014-2020”.

Since 2019, we have made great efforts to build the infrastructure that Greece needs to manage waste with respect for the environment, following the principles of the circular economy. And great progress has been made: together with these two new plants, a total of 28 recycling plants have been sold since 2019. We want to complete all auctions of units needed for Greece by 2023. In this way, Greece continues the Green Transition while improving the quality of life of all citizens.

On Monday we had the official delivery of the strategic planning study (master plan) for the reconstruction of Northern Evia prepared by the Benue committee. And I want to once again thank Stavros Beno for the great work he has done. It’s a bold plan, drawn up in consultation with residents in areas that have been hit so hard by the 2021 fires. It is called “Evia after” and includes 71 projects and activities with a budget of 390 million euros. The most revealing of these is the new main axis Psahnon-Strofilia, Strofilia-Istiaia, an infrastructure project that is the main condition for breaking the isolation of Northern Evia.

Of the total number of projects, 30 have already started and the rest will start by the end of the year, all with secured resources. In total, together with relief measures and immediate restoration projects, which reached 300 million euros and were carried out immediately after the fire, the state’s investment in the reconstruction of Northern Evia is close to 700 million euros.

I’ll end with the topic I usually start these weekly posts with and hope I’ve kept your interest so far as I have some upbeat news from ERGANI’s 2022 annual report data. So what does the report tell us? How 263,000 paid jobs were created in the three years 2019-2022 and how the average wage increased from 1,046 euros to 1,176 euros, i.e. 1,820 euros more per year. At the same time, non-standard part-time jobs with a salary of up to 700 euros decreased by 1/3, while jobs with a salary of 700 to 1000 euros increased by 60%, and jobs with a salary of more than 1000 euros – by 23.5%. And all this in a three-year period with serious external crises. Simply put: we have created more and better paying jobs.

Of course, we have a long way to go before we get closer to European legislation. Wages and disposable income in our country are still low, but we are on the right track and we know where we want to go. In the first four years, the stake was on lower taxes and investments. Our bet for the next four years – if citizens trust us with the responsibility of governance – is better jobs and higher wages, especially for the young people who are now entering the labor market. We must continue to work hard to create a Greece where young people will have many opportunities for professional growth. Greece that develops and instills hope and optimism in our youth. After all, we are indebted to them.”