September 12 is usually a day of celebration for the Great School of the Nation, the world’s oldest continuously operating Greek school, founded just after the fall of Constantinople in 1454.
But this year, the anniversary was clouded by grim news: for the first time in its history, not a single student enrolled in the 1st Grade of the Secondary School. After nearly six centuries of survival, its future now seems uncertain, according to protothema.gr.
On September 1, the Association of Alumni and the Association of Friends of the School issued a stark statement: “With extremely grave concern we were informed by Mr. Dimitris Zotos, director of the School, that the downward course of this prominent educational institution continues, reaching this year the extreme point of having no new registration in the 1st Grade of the Secondary School…”
The once-bustling halls now come alive only during community celebrations. Both groups described the risk of closure after 571 years as “a disgrace for Hellenism.”
Today, the school has barely 30 students, with some teachers instructing a single child in vast classrooms. Beyond demographic decline, headmaster Zotos highlights unfair competition among minority schools: “In the last 20 years a particularly worrying phenomenon has undermined the School’s viability…”
Ironically, many Turkish families wish to send children to the famed “Red School” of Phanar, but its minority status forbids their admission.
Zotos underlines that in 1882, the building opened with 731 boys, but today numbers are more than ten times smaller. He argues that survival depends on easing criteria: “There is nothing we can do to reverse this demographic decline.”
Despite challenges, the curriculum remains rich, including AI and robotics, with 70% taught in Greek. For Zotos, preserving identity is essential: “Beyond our duties as teachers, we Greeks of Constantinople have a huge responsibility to ensure that children learn who we are…”
Source: protothema.gr
