METLEN & SKEP: A Year of Meaningful Impact Across 84 Schools

For the fifth consecutive year, METLEN is demonstrating its commitment to inclusion in practice by supporting SKEP’s Disability Awareness Educational Programme, “Focus on the Person”.

From January to June 2026, SKEP facilitators -with and without disabilities- delivered 120 talks across 84 schools in Attica, Lamia and Tripoli, reaching 6,063 students. This year’s programme was structured around three key pillars.

• “Focus on the Person” in Attica: open dialogue and experiential sessions bringing students together with speakers and facilitators with disabilities, across public and private kindergartens, primary schools, lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools, from Nea Erythraia and Kifissia to Piraeus and Spata. Each two-hour classroom session focused on specific issues- including the rights of people with disabilities in everyday life, challenging stereotypes and social justice- through first-hand testimony and constructive dialogue. Through online sessions, the programme also reached schools outside Attica, including Tyros Lower Secondary School and the 4th Lower Secondary School of Volos, as well as the Second Chance School of Agia Paraskevi, engaging adult learners.
• Inclusion Week: A School for All: this new initiative was developed in response to feedback from teachers, who called for an intervention with a more lasting impact than a two-hour visit. Implemented for the first time this year in five schools across all levels of education, the initiative involved every class -not just a single group- taking part in a full week of experiential workshops designed to foster a shift in mindset across the entire school community.

In partnership with Guide Dogs Greece, the five schools took part in workshops promoting an inclusive mindset, including the Inclusive Design Challenge, through which students assessed the accessibility of their schools and learned about the principles of universal design. During theatrical improvisation exercises, they considered the experience of classmates with different needs and encountered barriers they would not ordinarily notice. At Keratea Lower Secondary School, the week opened with the “Breaking Down Stereotypes” initiative and concluded with a short film written and produced by the students themselves, entitled “A Place in the Circle”. At the 2nd Lower Secondary School of Vrilissia, a dedicated discussion explored the representation of disability in the media, highlighting the phenomenon of “inspiration porn”—the tendency to portray a person with a disability as “inspirational” simply for carrying out everyday activities. At kindergarten level, students created their own adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood, set “in an inclusive world”. Meanwhile, at the 4th Primary School of Ilion, students met a guide dog and gained direct insight into the daily life of a person with visual impairment. At Kantas Schools, the week was built around the same workshops, adapted to the age of the students. The initiative concluded with dedicated awareness-raising activities for parents and teachers.

• Expansion to Tripoli: for the first time this year, the programme expanded into the Peloponnese, with open dialogue sessions held in March at primary and secondary schools in Tripoli and Nestani -from the 12th Kindergarten and 1st Primary School of Tripoli to Nestani Primary School and Kindergarten- while also reaching Lechaio Primary School in Corinthia. The programme’s presence in the region comprised three successive visits within just a few weeks, reflecting a sustained relationship with the local community rather than a one-off intervention.

At the end of the school year, an evaluation questionnaire was completed by 64 teachers. 95% rated the programme 5 out of 5 as “very useful”, while 100% said they would recommend it to colleagues; the same percentage reported an improvement in students’ understanding of diversity. 53% believe that the changes they observed would not have occurred without participation in the programme, while 69% expect its impact to last for more than five years. As one teacher remarked: “I began to see through another person’s eyes and to recognise their rights.”

This initiative is of particular importance to METLEN and forms part of the strategic partnerships the company develops with leading social organisations in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Goals 10 and 17).

SKEP’s “Focus on the Person” Educational Programme has been successfully delivered since 2009 and is approved by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports.

For further information, please contact SKEP at skep@skep.gr or leave a telephone message on +30 211 800 9876.