Chryssa Ntalaka is the only teacher in the last school on the Greek island of Kalamos. She has a shorter list of students every autumn.
This year, there are just two. Last month, the sixth graders sat at Ntalaka’s table beneath the whiteboard, in front of rows of unused desks and benches. When they head to middle school on Greece’s mainland next year, the school will be closed.
Toys and picture books still sit in the nearby kindergarten, which closed three years ago.
Falling enrolment across Greece this year prompted authorities to close 75 schools. They suspended or extended suspensions at over 400 others. This is happening across Europe and beyond. The region has 16 of the world’s top 20 oldest nations, according to the independent World Population Review.
