PM’s office sources stress that what matters for the Greek PM is the calm of the students and their families and the smooth conduct of the examinations.

OLME, the teachers’ union, slammed the government’s decision on Saturday to force educators to attend work.

It called on members to gather in Syntagma Square on Monday evening to voice their objection and asked ADED and GSEE to call a general strike on Friday in solidarity with the teachers.

On Saturday, OLME board members met to examine ways to prevent the orders being served to them today.

Education minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos said the decision for civil mobilization of teachers was “politically correct and constitutionally necessary”. The civil mobilisation order reads that there is “an imperative need” to prevent the “threatened negative effects” of the planned 24-hour strike or any other strike called during the exam period.

OLME has decided to hold a 24-hour strike on May 17, the first day of the nationwide exams, as well and a five-day strike between May 20 and 25. Their action is primarily staged against the government’s decision to increase teachers’ working hours by two hours a week.

During the day, around 86,000 civil mobilisation orders will be issued to secondary school teachers.

According to enet.gr, the order reads that there is “an imperative need” to prevent the “threatened negative effects” of the proposed 24-hour strike or any other strike called during the exam period, speaking of a “significant risk threatening public order and the exam candidates’ health, unexpectedly, seven days before the exams start”.