At what point does a village school become unviable due to lack of children?

In the Limassol hills, the village school has long been the heart of the community. But falling pupil numbers in general and fears stirred by recent wildfires are raising urgent questions about their viability.

In Ayios Amvrosios, the local primary school, which had just eight pupils last year, will not reopen when schools start on Monday. The closure means children will now be transferred to the school in nearby Kyvides.

“We only had one primary school,” said Stelios Gregoriou, the community leader. “It had eight students last year. It has now closed, and the pupils will be transferred to Kyvides.”

Although the Limassol wildfire recently swept through parts of the area, Gregoriou confirmed the school building itself was not affected.

“No, the infrastructure was not damaged,” he told the Sunday Mail.

“But the fire still shook the families.”

He now hopes a new kindergarten will give the village a chance to retain young residents.

“I had a meeting with an education officer. We are waiting to open a kindergarten that will accept children aged three to five,” he said.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Paphos first education officer Giorgos Yiallourides from the education ministry said the future of village schools in Cyprus is shaped by demographic and social changes.

“The maintenance of schools in villages in Cyprus is an important issue, especially when considering issues related to low birth rates, internal migration and demographic changes,” he said.

Yiallourides explained that decisions on whether schools remain open are not taken by the ministry alone. 

“Any decision to continue the operation of schools is the responsibility of the cabinet,” he said.

He noted that measures agreed by the cabinet include mergers or transferring pupils to nearby schools “for reasons of economy and sustainability, as well as the strengthening of infrastructure and technological support in remote areas”.

At a meeting on April 24, the cabinet decided to suspend Ayios Amvrosios primary school. 

“Its consolidation with the Pano Kivides primary school will begin in the school year 2025-2026,” Yiallourides said.

However, some small schools with fewer than 15 pupils will continue under special arrangements. 

Among these are the primary school and kindergarten in Kambos, the primary school and kindergarten in Kormakitis, the Ayios Ioannis Nicosia kindergarten, the Ayia Marina Xyliatou kindergarten, the Moutoullas kindergarten, and those in  Orounta, Farmakas, Potamia, and Pano Platres.

He added that these decisions were based on “geographical isolation, the lack of alternative school options in these communities, and the socio-economic needs of the communities of these schools.”

Under Cyprus’ 1993 education law, the cabinet can provide “free transportation of students who live far from the school headquarters or the payment of a special allowance”.

Andreas, a father of a six-year-old girl in Ayios Amvrosios, said they are “seriously considering relocating”.

“We don’t want our daughter travelling long hours for school,” he said.

“We already had doubts about staying. After the fire, and with the school’s future uncertain, we’ve started looking at options in town.”

Speaking to Sunday Mail, Vouni community leader Mattheos Protopapas, said their primary school had already closed due to a lack of students many years ago. Children from the village are now bused to Limassol daily.

“We’ve reached the point where there are so few school-aged children left in the village,” he said.

“A few families remain, but if services like schools aren’t there, it’s hard to keep them.”

The recent devastating fire in the area has only stoked concerns, particularly the lack of authority to enforce fire prevention measures on private land. Protopapas said they are only allowed to clean within the designated Vouni zone area and cannot enter privately owned plots, even when they’re overgrown. This legal gap, he warned, is fuelling fear among families who now feel exposed.

“We clean every year, but we can’t touch private plots unless the owner gives permission,” he said.

As a result, several parents have begun making plans to move their children away from the village, saying they no longer feel safe living next to untended, flammable land.

“If we clean it, they can take us to court,” Protopapas added. “The law must change.”

Some families say they’ll leave unless the government puts proper wildfire protection plans in place.

“Our house wasn’t burned, but the fire came so close,” said Maria, a Romanian mother of two who’s lived in Vouni for six years.

“The children were shaken. It has made us think seriously about leaving, maybe back to Romania if the school shuts, or at least to Limassol, where we wouldn’t feel so isolated.”

Yiallourides also addressed families affected by recent fires. 

“In no case of the cases of the fire victims that have been investigated has there been any intention to leave the school they were attending,” he said.

He explained that one family whose house was destroyed had chosen to stay. 

“The family has expressed the desire to continue the children’s education at the Sounio-Zanakia primary school and the Kivides kindergarten,” he said, adding that they were being hosted in Episkopi.

Other families facing partial damage made similar choices. 

“The families expressed the desire to continue their education at the schools they are registered at, such as the Pachna primary school and the Moniatis kindergarten,” he said.

In Souni-Zanakia, local leader Nikos Vikis confirmed that while their schools were untouched by the recent fire, the psychological impact has been deep.

“We used the school as a distribution centre during the fire,” he said.

“The building was fine, but the people, especially the children, are shaken.”

Vikis, who is also head of the local school board, said psychological support was also arranged for families.

The fire, he explained, came on top of long-standing problems with early education services.

“We’ve submitted requests to the ministry and the district administration for a kindergarten and school,” he said.

“We’re waiting for answers. We already have 52 children who need a place, but we still don’t have a kindergarten.”

Parents there say they’ve been left with no support, despite growing numbers of young families.

“My son turned four last month,” said Eleni, a mother living in Souni-Zanakia.

“There’s no place for him to go. If we don’t get a kindergarten soon, we’ll probably move to another town.”

On the creation of kindergartens, Yiallourides stressed their importance for rural areas. 

“The establishment of community kindergartens is an important measure to support small communities that either do not have public kindergartens or cannot enrol in them, due to age group,” he said.
These kindergartens are set up under the Private Schools Law of 2019. 

“They are private kindergartens, which are subsidised by the state with an annual subsidy,” Yiallourides explained.

He added that the founder could be “a public kindergarten parents association, the community council, the community welfare council, an association or a trade union or a charitable organisation.”

“In the majority of them, community kindergartens are co-located with public kindergartens,” he said.

In Lofou, Ioannis Neophytou, president of the community council, confirmed that all children from the village now attend schools elsewhere. 

“There are no pupils here anymore. The last families with young children have either left or sent them outside the village every day.”

For community leaders, the message is clear: without schools, villages will vanish.

“These schools are the glue that holds small villages together,” said Gregoriou.

“If we lose them, we lose the families, and with them, the future.”