The Education Ministry announced plans for a 20-year national strategy to redesign the country’s school network as falling birthrates and rural depopulation shrink student enrollment. First-grade registrations dropped from 115,000 in 2010-11 to 71,181 in the current 2025-26 school year, and are expected to fall below 70,000 next year, a decline of about 40%.
Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki said the study would map the “real operational footprint” of schools so decisions rely on “real data and not fragmented estimates.” The €300,000 study will examine operating costs, school capacity, transportation expenses and alternative organizational models.
The ministry signaled likely mergers of classes in secondary schools and closures or consolidations of schools in rural, mountainous and island regions with declining populations. The demographic decline is also expected to affect teacher staffing and future hiring.
