Before sunrise over the Ionian Sea, a handful of teenagers from Kalamos board a small sea taxi, backpacks in hand, for the half‑hour ride to the mainland where they attend school. The daily commute underscores a growing crisis for remote Greek islands and many parts of Europe: fewer children to fill classrooms.
Kalamos on the brink of losing its last school
Kalamos, home to roughly 80 year‑round residents, now has only two students left in its primary school. When those children move to a middle school on the mainland next year, the island’s last operating school will close its doors.
“There used to be a lot of children on Kalamos,” said Antonis Aivaliotis, a high‑school senior who expects to leave after graduation. “It was very nice. We played together every day. We went to (primary) school every morning. Of course I would like to stay here. I love Kalamos. It is my home. But there’s no development at all.”
Teachers stretch to keep education alive
Chryssa Ntalaka, the island’s primary schoolteacher, has spent two decades teaching in remote Greek schools, often as the sole educator, combining grades and covering subjects from Greek language and mathematics to history, science and physical education. Her classroom now sits largely empty, while the island’s kindergarten has been closed for three years, its toys still on the shelves.
“I will have to leave Kalamos,” said Dalaka, a student. Keeping the school open would require only two more families, she added, “just two families — a simple move.”
Demographic decline fuels school closures nationwide
Greece has recorded more deaths than births each year since 2011. Demographers project the national population could fall from about 10.5 million today to between 8 million and 8.5 million by 2050, with young people becoming a minority, according to Aris Alexopoulos, head of the OECD Crete Centre on Population Dynamics.
Low enrollment has already prompted Greek authorities to close 75 schools this year and suspend or extend the suspension of classes at more than 400 others.
Experts warn of a cycle of depopulation
Byron Kotzamanis, co‑founder of the Institute of Demographic Research in Athens, cautioned that school closures in sparsely populated areas should be applied “very sparingly and carefully,” not driven solely by economics. He argued that shutting schools encourages working‑age adults to leave remote communities, further reducing birth rates and accelerating depopulation.
“Closing schools leads to young people not staying in a remote community and to them leaving,” Kotzamanis said. “Leaving means fewer and fewer people — fewer and fewer births. It means depopulation and dead settlements that will become nursing homes.”
What the future may hold
For Kalamos, the fate of its school hinges on attracting just a couple of new families. Without that boost, the island risks joining a growing list of Greek locales where education facilities disappear, leaving remaining residents with longer commutes, reduced services, and a diminished sense of community.
Local leaders and residents hope that renewed attention to rural development, infrastructure investment, and family‑friendly policies could reverse the trend, but the challenge remains steep as Europe grapples with an aging population and the loss of its smallest towns.
Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.
