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Gymnastics and education: the gradual convergence
The creation of the Central Gymnasium in Athens in 1878 marked the beginning of the intervention of the State with a view to developing sport. This  political will became even clearer from the early 1880s, with a series of measures with reference to the introduction of gymnastics in public education. From those years until the organization of the first modern Olympic Games these measures were often fragmentary and were implemented only partially, whereas after 1896 the intervention of the State was all the more continuous, consistent and systematic. Ioannis Fokianos until 1896, and then Ioannis Chrysafis until 1930, had spearheaded the efforts for incorporating gymnastics into the Greek educational system. What is more, with the succession of Fokianos by Chrysafis the German gymnastic system was abandoned and the Swedish equivalent was adopted.
As a result, in 1880, upon decision of the Minister of Education gymnastics was introduced as a compulsory discipline in the secondary education, two hours weekly, and the first gymnasts were appointed in certain schools of Athens. Two years later the hours became three and in 1883 apparatus was bought; thus some schools started to have their own rudimentary gymnasiums. The purchase of apparatus bore witness to the adoption of the German gymnastic system by Fokianos. In addition, from 1880 gymnastics was reinstated as a discipline in the Didaskaleion. The head gymnast was once again Fokianos.
In 1882 was founded the first state school for the training of gymnasts. The operation of the school was sanctioned five years later by law Á×Ç'. However, the training lasted only a few weeks and the school did not operate every year. It seems that this had also occurred in the early 1890s, and for that reason in 1893 new provisions were added to the said law, regulating the re-operation of the school under the name Special School of Gymnasts. In this case too, few things changed in relation to the previous years. However, the occasional operation of the school and the short-lived education that it offered gave the first gymnasts who staffed the schools.
A new phase of development for school sport, and Greek sport in general, began after the Olympic Games. More specifically, in 1897 the training period for gymnasts increased to 2 years, while in 1899 limitations were set to the introduction of trainee gymnasts who should have been students of another school, and, what is more, second-year students at least. This regulation was the result of law Â×ÊÁ'/1899, which is considered the first systematic legislative intervention for the organization of issues concerning gymnastics and Greek sport in general. The said law defined the responsibilities of the COG and of the SEAGS and announced the permanent carrying out of the Olympic Games in Greece.
Moreover, as provided by the said law, gymnastics became a compulsory discipline for all three levels of education and a special exercise area was created in every school. The result of the above was that in the following year (1900) the weekly hours of gymnastics increased from three to five and the first student games of the schools of Athens and Piraeus were organized.
Lastly, according to law Â×ÊÁ' two gymnasts would be sent for a two-year further training in a European country. Indeed, in 1899 Ioannis Chrysafis went to Sweden and studied there for two years in the then famous Institute of Stockholm. Upon his return to Greece in 1901, Chrysafis embarked upon a long and systematic effort for the adoption of the Swedish gymnastic system, taking advantage of the dynamics of the educational reforms that took place in Greece during the first decades of the 20th century, but also of the important posts he held as a member of the Ministry of Education, especially after 1910 and until his death in 1932.
The first results to that end began to emerge in 1907 with the foundation of the military school of gymnasts. The programme of the school was based, for the first time in Greece, on the Swedish model. Two years later the Ministry of Education adopted Swedish gymnastics as the suitable physical exercise in education. However, a serious obstacle for the direct and catholic implementation of the above decision was the fact that most of the gymnasts had been trained after the German system. Therefore, from 1918, upon proposals from Chrysafis, the Special School of Gymnasts was renamed Didaskaleion of Gymnastics and its programme was identical to that of the Institute of Stockholm. Ten years later, by special legislative regulation, the Didaskaleion was incorporated into the higher education and in 1933 it was renamed Gymnastics Academy.
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