Greece will soon launch one of the first national programs in Europe that combines teaching with artificial intelligence, Greek media reports.
Twenty educational units in Greece will be included in the “Artificial Intelligence in Schools” program, introducing ChatGPT Edu, a version of the OpenAI tool designed for education, the Athens-based department announced, informs eKathimerini.
The initiative will begin in December 2025 for teachers and in March 2026 for students in 20 middle schools and high schools across the country.
“An important step for the school of the future”
Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki described the pilot project as “an important step for the school of the future”, with the aim of helping teachers and students use artificial intelligence “with responsibility, creativity and critical thinking”.
Zacharaki emphasized that artificial intelligence will be used as an ally in education, not as a substitute for teaching, according to ANA-MPA.
The initiative positions Greece among the first nations in Europe to formally integrate generative AI tools into the public education system, but not as a replacement for teachers, but as a companion for learning, creativity and digital literacy, The Greek Reporter also notes.
Led by the non-profit organization The Tipping Point in Education and funded by the Onassis Foundation, the project aims to train teachers and students in using AI safely, responsibly and effectively in the classroom.
The AI tool will support teachers in lesson planning, research and personalized learning. Teachers will benefit from personalized training to explore all the capabilities of OpenAI's educational models.
Implementation of the project, in four stages
The implementation of the pilot project will be done in four stages, starting with teacher training and culminating with the full use of the AI tool in classrooms by the 2026-2027 school year, so that both teachers and students will use the tool in daily school activities.
According to The Greek Reporter, ChatGPT Edu is a dedicated educational platform developed for schools and universities. It provides a closed, ad-free environment with institutional-level account management, allowing administrators to define roles and permissions for teachers and students.
Teachers can create personalized learning assistants tailored to specific subjects, levels of study or school objectives. For example, a physics teacher might design a GPT assistant that simulates lab experiments, while a language teacher might use one to guide essay writing or debate preparation.
User data is not used to train models, and all interactions are encrypted and GDPR compliant. The system allows for age-appropriate access controls, and participation in the pilot project is entirely voluntary, based on informed consent.
Estonia, AI program for thousands of teachers and high school students
OpenAI announced in May 2024 that it had launched ChatGPT Edu, a version built for universities to responsibly implement AI for students, faculty, researchers, and campus operations.
“We created ChatGPT Edu because we saw the success that universities such as Oxford University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas at Austin, the State University of New York and Columbia University had with ChatGPT Enterprise,” OpenAI representatives explained at the time.
In Europe, Estonia also announced in December that it had launched an initiative to integrate ChatGPT Edu and other artificial intelligence tools into the national education system, according to Euronews.
Called “AI Leap,” the program will initially include 20,000 high school students and 3,000 teachers starting in the 2025-2026 school year, according to Estonia's Ministry of Education.
Estonia then hopes to expand the program to vocational schools and an additional 38,000 students and 3,000 teachers starting next school year.
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