The remote Greek island of Pserimos, in the eastern Aegean, which is home to fewer than 80 residents, will be welcoming the opening of its own primary school this academic year, the education ministry announced this week.

For the first time, two children who completed kindergarten last year will begin first grade without having to travel daily to Kalymnos, the larger neighboring island. Until now, families faced the difficult choice of relocating or enduring long commutes for their children’s schooling.

The new single-seat Pserimos Primary School will operate in the same building as the island’s kindergarten, which began functioning in 2023. Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said it was a “great challenge to address the harsh demographic data”, stressing that “no child, on any remote island, will be left without education”.

Equipped with two interactive whiteboards and a computer, the school is part of a wider effort to ensure equal learning opportunities for children in Greece’s most isolated communities. In the upcoming school year, three pupils are also enrolled in the Pserimos Kindergarten.

Schooling in remote parts of Greece has long been a difficult issue to address. While tiny Pserimos is gaining a new school, the fabled Epirus province in mountainous northwest Greece will witness the closure of 38 schools – 25 kindergartens and 13 primary schools – this year due to lack of pupils – a stark reminder of the country’s demographic challenges.