A cleaning lady in Greece has been given a 10-year jail term — for lying about her primary school education.

The woman, 53, had worked for a state-funded nursery for 15 years before a review in 2014 revealed she had forged an education certificate.

She completed five years of primary education but changed documents to make it look like she had done six.

The minimum requirement for state-employed cleaners is to complete the first six years of elementary education.

The case has caused an uproar in Greece for being unduly strict.

The Hellenic Association for Human Rights said the decision was “inhuman” and the judge “excessively rigid”.

When the woman was growing up it would not have been uncommon for poverty to force some Greek children to quit school early so they could earn some money.

"I am ashamed, but I did it for my children,” she told a local newspaper. “I didn't want them to be raised in an orphanage like me.”

A prosecutor at Greece’s supreme court will now examine the original decision to see if the case should be retried.

The woman was jailed after her fraud conviction by a court in Larissa in central Greece.