DYPA Apprenticeship Vocational Schools (EPAS)

DYPA runs 50 EPAS (Apprenticeship Vocational Schools) all around Greece, with 7,500 – 8,000 students annually.

The DYPA EPAS have been in operation since 1952, successfully applying the system of Apprenticeship, namely the VET system that combines school-based theoretical and laboratory training with remunerated Apprenticeship (workplace-based training) in enterprises of the private and public sector.

Junior high-school graduates (or holders of an equivalent diploma) aged up to 29 are entitled to register in the EPAS. A point system is used by DYPA to select the most suitable candidates for admission in the EPAS (based on their diploma grades, as well as social and economic criteria).

EPAS studies last 2 years (4 semesters). Throughout their studies, students attend school classes in the afternoon and work as apprentices in an enterprise/company in the morning.

EPAS students are trained in small and medium-sized businesses, alongside freelancers, but also in large private businesses, in public utility companies, Municipalities, as well as public and wider public sector bodies, covering the whole spectrum of the labour market and various technical specialities/areas: Baking-Confectionery, Culinary Art, Hairdressing, Graphic Arts and Printing, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems, Electrical Works, Carpentry-Furniture Making, Textiles and Clothing, Business Administration and Finance, etc.

The DYPA EPAS aim to ensure that, upon graduating, their students have gained significant work experience in real-life conditions. “On-the-job training”, namely the training system applied in the DYPA EPAS, has proven to be particularly effective in practice since a large number of students continue working as employees in their previous training posts after graduating.

Numerous established professionals, mainly in technical occupations (many of whom are currently representatives of sectoral/employer associations and federations) are former graduates of DYPA’s Apprenticeship EPAS, IEK (Vocational Training Institutes) and, formerly, ΤΕΕ (Technical Vocational Schools).

Additional information regarding Apprenticeship, EPAS specialties/fields of study, Training Guides, Apprenticeship Contracts and the EPAS Curricula can be found HERE.