Greek island classrooms show school crisis
Summary
School closures are mounting across Greece as falling enrollment empties classrooms on remote islands like Kalamos. The trend is accelerating population decline, with students forced to travel to the mainland and local communities losing services.
Key Points
- Greece has closed 75 schools this year and suspended classes at more than 400 others because of falling enrollment.
- On Kalamos, the last school has only two sixth graders left, and the kindergarten was shuttered three years ago.
- Teachers and students on remote islands face long commutes, unsafe ferry crossings and a shrinking local population.
- The European Commission says the EU has spent 146 million euros over five years to modernize schools on Greek island clusters and counter demographic decline.
