On the Thursday, January 30th episode, following the newspaper headlines, we spoke with Mr. Kostas Daloukas, pediatrician and president of the Federation of Independent Pediatricians, about the recent meningitis outbreak after the tragic death of a 20-year-old student in Patras. Mr. Daloukas explained why this particular meningococcal strain is dangerous, what parents should be aware of, and why vaccination is the only preventive measure.
In the second hour of the show, we “traveled” to Germany and spoke with Konstantinos Bakas, president of the Federation of Greek Parents’ Associations of North Rhine-Westphalia, about the challenges facing Greek-language education in the region. These issues were recently presented to Greek officials in Athens by school representatives. Among the key demands of the Greek community that Mr. Bakas highlighted are:
- A legislative framework ensuring timely staffing of Greek schools.
- Incentives and benefits to make secondment to Greek schools abroad more attractive for teachers.
- A reevaluation of the required years of study abroad for eligibility for the omogeneis university admission quota or the creation of a special category for students with less than three years of study abroad.
- The separation of overseas Panhellenic exams from the supplementary exams of domestic general high schools.
- The development of a modern curriculum for the German language.
- Easier access to KEDASY (Centers for Differential Diagnosis, Diagnosis & Support) for students with learning difficulties.
- The inclusion of Greek students abroad in Greece’s digital tutoring program.
In the final segment of the show, before the sports news, we connected with Sweden to speak with Andreas Koulouris, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet. He recently received a scholarship from the Elena Iliopoulou Giama Foundation, supported by the Deloitte Greece Foundation, for his research on innovative cancer treatment designs and improved prognostic tools for lung cancer, focusing on patients with targeted mutations and brain metastases.