Greek Island Children Take a Boat to School as Their Community Gets Smaller

Before sunrise each morning, students living on the small Greek island of Kalamos board a boat for the journey to school on the mainland.

The half-hour trip across the Ionian Sea has become part of everyday life for teenagers on the island, where the number of children has fallen sharply in recent years.

Kalamos has around 80 permanent residents, including only seven teenagers. Its primary school now has just two students, both in sixth grade.

When those two children leave for middle school next year, the island’s last functioning school is expected to close.

For students such as 17-year-old Antonis Aivaliotis, the shrinking population has changed what growing up on the island means. He says he loves Kalamos and would like to stay, but believes there are few opportunities for young people to build a future there.

Teacher Chryssa Ntalaka has spent two decades working in remote Greek schools. At Kalamos Primary School, she teaches the two remaining students subjects ranging from mathematics and history to science and physical education.

The island’s kindergarten has already been closed for three years because there are not enough children to keep it operating.

Kalamos is facing a wider demographic problem affecting many parts of Greece. The country has recorded more deaths than births every year since 2011, while remote communities are often among the first to feel the effects of population decline.

Greek authorities closed 75 schools this year because of low enrollment and suspended or extended the suspension of classes at more than 400 others.

For residents of places like Kalamos, the loss of a school is about more than education. Local experts warn that closing schools can encourage young families to leave, making already small communities even smaller.

For the children who still live on the island, however, school remains a daily connection to the wider world — even if reaching the classroom means crossing the sea before the sun rises.

Source: Associated Press, October 5, 2026