Double standards of education in Greece
In Greece, Turkish minority primary schools in Western Thrace are being closed due to a lack of students, while in the village of Argiri, located in the Karditsa region, a school has been opened for just one student.
According to reports from Trikalavoice, the school in Argiri, which had been closed for many years, reopened for the 2024-2025 academic year to serve just a single student. An opening ceremony with a traditional religious blessing was held for this purpose.
The report highlighted that the local mayor, Andreas Stergios, expressed the emotional significance of such distant schools, stating: "Holy Water holds special importance and emotional weight in these remote areas... Happy new school year to everyone from the beautiful, untouched mountain regions of Agrafa!"
Argiri is a small village situated in the mountainous Agrafa region of Karditsa, known for its unspoiled natural beauty.
Closure of Minority Schools in Western Thrace Due to Lack of Students
On the other hand, in Western Thrace, Turkish minority schools continue to be closed under the same pretext of insufficient student numbers. For the 2024-2025 academic year, schools in the villages of Hacıören, Keziren, and Payamlar in the Rodopi region, and Karaköy in the Xanthi region, have been shut down.
Since 2011, there has been a systematic closure of Turkish minority primary schools in Western Thrace due to a lack of students. The number of functioning minority schools in the region has decreased to 86, whereas in 1995, there were 231 such schools.
Under Greece's administrative reforms that began in 2011, many of the Turkish minority schools in Western Thrace have been closed or merged.
