Pupils from Senior High School of Pentapolis in Thessaloniki were interviewed by BBC World News for Children

The current economic situation in Greece has sparked strikes and protests, the effects of which have been felt across the country.

Flights have been cancelled, there has been rioting in the streets, schools have closed and teachers and other public sector workers have taken strike action. 

What did pupils outside Athens think of the situation? 

Pentapolis pupils comment that as they live in Serres in the north east of the country they have only seen the demonstrations on TV.   

They say some schools in the region have been affected, "some state school teachers who didn’t turn up for classes that day. They went on strike to protest about the decrease in their salaries."

This pupil condemns the deaths in the Athens bank fire started by protesters earlier in the month.  She also understands and supports the reasons behind the demonstrations.

Both pupils are seventeen and plan to go to university.  They are worried about paying for it. 

"The increase in taxes and VAT are bound to affect our lives in significant ways.  Prices are rising but the salaries remain the same so it's difficult to survive.  In a year from now we're going to university to study and we're not sure whether our parents will be able to afford this extra money."

Her friend is concerned there won't be enough jobs when they finish their studies.

“We face an unprecedented financial crisis," she says. "We study hard to produce more opportunities for a better future but ultimately we can do nothing with this situation."

There are also concerns about the impact of higher tax on the family budget.  

There will be less money to spare:  "an increase in taxes can lead to a serious dent in a family's income so that means that our parents won't be able to give us the amount of pocket money they used to."

How did they do that?

Listen to BBC World News for Children and read scripts here.

Find out more about the Greek crisis on BBC News.

Senior High School of Pentapolis, Serres collaborates with its partner school in the UK school through eTwinning (European schools work together through ICT).  

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