Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs

The Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs.

The Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (Greek: Υπουργείο Παιδείας, Έρευνας και Θρησκευμάτων) is a government department of Greece. One of the oldest ministries, established in 1833, it is responsible for running the country's education system and for supervising the religions in Greece. The incumbent minister is Nikos Filis.

It was named the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs (Υπουργείο Παιδείας, Δια Βίου Μάθησης και Θρησκευμάτων) from 2009 to 2012, having been known previously as the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs (Υπουργείο Εθνικής Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων) for most of its history. Following the election of June 2012 and the formation of a coalition government by Antonis Samaras, the ministry absorbed the culture and sport portfolios of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to form the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sport. Following a cabinet reshuffle on 25 June 2013, the Ministry of Culture and Sport was re-established as a separate department, but after the formation of the Tsipras Cabinet on 27 January 2015 the two ministries were combined once again into the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. On 23 September 2015 the ministry was renamed Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Sports was reintroduced for culture and sports.

Current leadership

Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs: Nikos Filis
- Alternate Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs: Sia Anagnostopoulou
- Alternate Minister of Research and Innovation: Kostas Fotakis
- Deputy Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs: Theodosis Pelegrinis

List of ministers

Ministers for National Education and Religious Affairs (1981–2009)

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
Eleftherios Veryvakis	21 October 1981	5 July 1982	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Apostolos Kaklamanis	5 July 1982	25 April 1986	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Antonis Tritsis	25 April 1986	9 May 1988	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Apostolos Kaklamanis	9 May 1988	22 June 1988	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
George Papandreou (1st term)	22 June 1988	2 July 1989	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Vasileios Kontogiannopoulos	2 July 1989	12 October 1989	New Democracy
Konstantinos Despotopoulos	12 October 1989	23 November 1989	interim
Kostas Simitis	23 November 1989	13 February 1990	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Konstantinos Despotopoulos	13 February 1990	11 April, 1990	interim
Vasileios Kontogiannopoulos	11 April, 1990	10 January 1991	New Democracy
Georgios Souflias	10 January 1991	13 October 1993	New Democracy
Dimitrios Fatouros	13 October 1993	8 July 1994	New Democracy
George Papandreou (2nd term)	8 July 1994	25 September 1996	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Gerasimos Arsenis	25 September 1996	13 April 2000	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Petros Efthymiou	13 April 2000	10 March 2004	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Marietta Giannakou	10 March 2004	19 September 2007	New Democracy
Evripidis Stylianidis	19 September 2007	8 January 2009	New Democracy
Aris Spiliotopoulos	8 January 2009	7 October 2009	New Democracy

Ministers for Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs (2009–2012)

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
Anna Diamantopoulou	7 October 2009	7 March 2012	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Georgios Babiniotis	7 March 2012	17 May 2012	Independent	National unity government
Angeliki-Efrosini Kiaou	17 May 2012	21 June 2012	Independent	Caretaker government

Ministers for Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sport (2012–2013)

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos	21 June 2012	25 June 2013	New Democracy	Coalition government

Ministers for Education and Religious Affairs (2013–2015)

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos	25 June 2013	10 June 2014	New Democracy	Coalition government
Andreas Loverdos	10 June 2014	27 January 2015	Panhellenic Socialist Movement	Coalition government

Ministers for Culture, Education and Religious Affairs (January 2015–September 2015)

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
Aristides Baltas	27 January 2015	28 August 2015	Coalition of the Radical Left	Coalition government
Frosso Kiaou	28 August 2015	23 September 2015	Independent	Caretaker government