Foreign pupils make up 2% of school student body

A total of 26,015 foreign students from 94 countries are enrolled at Greek schools, according to data from the Education Ministry. 

Aged between 5 and 17, they make up 2% of Greece’s student population. Attica has the lion’s share, with 10,220 foreign students, with the rest distributed in other parts of the country.

Albanians constitute the strong majority of foreign students. Indicatively, there were 15,532 students from Albania at the end of 2021 followed by 1,059 from Afghanistan, 600 from Georgia, 561 from Iraqi and 481 from Syria.

The data reflects the large migration flows late last century from the Balkans and recent arrivals from the Middle East. Interestingly, applications from Turkish parents rose in mid-2020. 

“The Turks are usually of a high educational and economic profile, and are considered dissidents in that country,” a ministry official told Kathimerini.