Empty Classrooms on Kalamos: The Silent Crisis Threatening the Future of Greece’s Small Islands

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Chryssa Ntalaka’s classroom has become a living example of subtraction. As the sole teacher in the last remaining school on the idyllic Ionian island of Kalamos, her enrollment list shrinks every autumn. This year, it stands at just two pupils.

On September 23, the school’s final two sixth-graders—including 11-year-old Gerasimos Mitsopoulos—sat at Ntalaka’s table beneath the whiteboard, surrounded by rows of empty, unused desks. When these last two students graduate and transition to middle school on the Greek mainland next year, the Kalamos Primary School will be officially mothballed. Nearby, toys and picture books still gather dust on the shelves of the local kindergarten, which was shuttered three years ago because there were no children.

“Usually, teachers are placed on these islands against their wishes,” Ntalaka told The Associated Press. “Whereas for Kalamos there are teachers and kindergarten teachers, as far as I know, who want to come — but there are no children.”

A Widespread Trend of School Closures in Greece

The impending closure on Kalamos highlights a devastating national trend driven by a shrinking and aging population. Spurred by falling enrollment, Greek authorities have permanently closed 75 schools and suspended classes at more than 400 others for the current academic term alone.

 Greece Population Projections (OECD)
======================================
Current:  ███████████████████ 10.5M
2050:     ███████████████░░░░ 8.0M - 8.5M (-20%)

This situation reflects a deeper crisis playing out across Europe, a region that holds 16 of the world’s top 20 oldest nations. Southern Europe is aging the fastest, and its remote communities act as an early warning system. Mountain villages and small islands are the first places where schools and vital services vanish, triggering a destructive, irreversible loop.

“Closing schools leads to young people not staying and to them leaving,” explains Byron Kotzamanis, co-founder of the Institute of Demographic Research in Athens. “Leaving means fewer and fewer people — fewer and fewer births. It means depopulation and dead settlements that will become nursing homes.”

Catching a Boat to Class: The Reality of Island Life

Today, Kalamos’ year-round population has dwindled to just 80 residents. Only a decade ago, the vibrant island was home to 40 children attending local schools and daycare facilities.

“It was very nice. We played together every day. We went to school every morning,” recalls Antonis Aivaliotis, a 17-year-old high school senior, during a ferry ride in the predawn light.

Aivaliotis is one of only seven teenagers remaining on Kalamos. To get an education, these high schoolers must make a choppy daily boat commute across the Ionian Sea to the mainland town of Mytikas. On days when strong winter winds whip up dangerous waves, the crossing is too risky, and the children miss class entirely.

      KALAMOS ISLAND              MYTIKAS (Mainland)
  [ 7 Teenagers Left ]  =======>  [ High School ]
                        (Daily Boat Commute)
               *Class cancelled on high-wind days*

Ntalaka, an educator who has spent half of her 20-year career on Kalamos, fell in love with the island’s unspoiled beaches, learned to dive, and became an accomplished spearfisher. Yet, she accepts that she will have to leave when her last two students graduate.

All it would take to save the school is for just two families with young children to move to the island. Local town officials are desperately pleading for newcomers, but time is running out.

For the island’s remaining youth, moving away permanently feels inevitable. “Of course I would like to stay here,” Aivaliotis says as the ferry cuts through the water. “I love Kalamos. It is my home. But there’s no development at all.”

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