Demographic crisis threatens Greek education system

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – A demographic crisis is threatening the Greek education system, local media reported on Wednesday.

The crisis, made clear in the sharply lower number of births nationwide, from over 118,000 in 2008 to 62,500 last year, is being exacerbated by the emigration of young Greeks and a decline in the number of migrants willing to settle in Greece, underlined daily Kathimerini.

The crisis already forced thousands of classrooms and schools to close across the country as primary and secondary enrollment shrinks, according to the daily.

Christos Bouras, the rector of the University of Patras in Western Greece, warned of an imminent “collapse of the academic map due to the demographic problem.”

Freshman enrollment in universities slumped from nearly 115,000 in 2010 to around 71,000 this year, he said.

“The cumulative loss of young students has reached 330,000,” he added.