In Greece, like much of Europe and the world, birth rates are sharply declining and populations are quickly aging. The declining number of children has forced difficult decisions for Greek schools facing shrinking enrollments, especially in rural areas and remote islands like Lemnos and Thymaina, where school mergers and closures are angering some parents and teachers and forcing some students to travel by boat to receive an education.

NPR’s Sarah McCammon reports.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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