Afroditi Latinopoulou, president of the Greek political party Voice of Reason, wished the country's students a successful new school year in a social media post, while repeating her call for schools to bring back a uniform, including the pinafore-style school apron.
Latinopoulou said she would very much like to see school uniforms introduced in Greece, as already happens in a great many schools across Europe as well as in expensive private colleges. She added that such uniforms were, in her view, very attractive.
Comments on female students' appearance
The Voice of Reason leader then turned to how she believes female students should present themselves at school. Schools, she said, are neither a catwalk nor bouzoukia, using the Greek term for the live-music nightclubs where patrons often dress up for a night out.
She said long, sharply shaped nails, which she described as tyrannosaurus-style, along with dramatic false eyelashes and evening makeup, were fine in themselves. Her advice, however, was for students to save that look for after school hours, if the aim was for boys to see them made up that way.
Message on adolescence and respect for teachers
Latinopoulou urged students to make the most of adolescence and their youth, telling them these years do not come back.
She closed her post by addressing the relationship between students and teachers, calling on pupils to show respect towards their teachers and professors. She said teachers are there to help students, not to be afraid of walking into a classroom to teach.
Who is Afroditi Latinopoulou
Latinopoulou is a Greek politician and former television presenter. She founded Voice of Reason, a right-of-centre party, ahead of Greece's 2023 general election, in which it won seats in the Hellenic Parliament.
The school apron in Greece
The pinafore-style apron, known in Greek as the poda, was for decades a compulsory part of the uniform for girls at Greek state schools before it was phased out as part of education reforms. Calls to bring it back have periodically resurfaced in Greek public debate, including from Latinopoulou.
