A Greek cleaning lady has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for fibbing about her elementary school record in a court ruling which has provoked uproar in the country.

The 53-year-old woman had worked at a publicly-funded nursery for 15 years until a review in 2014 revealed she had doctored a certificate documenting her primary education.

A regional court handed down the sentence this month on charges of defrauding the public, according to the semi-official Athens News Agency.

"This decision is not simply inhuman. It is another very indicative sign of permanent pathogens in the criminal justice system," the Hellenic League for Human Rights said in a statement.

Based on the indictment, the woman - who has not been named - altered the certificate to show she had completed six years of elementary school, a requirement which helped her get hired as a cleaner, whereas she had finished only five.

Until about three or four decades ago it was not uncommon for poverty to force some Greek children to drop out of school, particularly in rural areas.

A senior prosecutor for the Supreme Court will review the legal reasoning of the regional court next week, judicial sources said.