Children are sorely needed in the town Kirkjubaejarklaustur (pop. 125) in south Iceland. There will be no 1st grade class for six-year-olds at the local elementary school in the coming autumn for the first time in the school’s history.
Kirkjubaejarklaustur. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Gudmundur Ingi Ingason, the chairman of the Skaftárhreppur district council, told ruv.is that he has thought of imposing a birth control ban to improve the situation or to introduce a “love week” to increase the number of children in the municipality.
The number of students in the local elementary school has decreased significantly in the last few years. There are currently 37 students at the school while there were around 100 a few years ago.
Ingason encourages people to move to Kirkjubaejarklaustur. There is plenty of room at the elementary school and no waiting list, he said, and he can easily add 100 more students to the elementary school if need be.
