Six-year-old Aysha will become the only pupil at a newly reopened primary school in Ginostra on the Italian island of Stromboli on September 10.
The remote settlement is perched on the slopes of an active volcano off the northern coast of Sicily. It has been without a school for two decades following population decline. Local authorities agreed to reopen the facility after Aysha's parents warned that they would otherwise be forced to move away from the island.
The new school features a single classroom and will operate inside a building owned by the local parish of the Catholic Church. The site sits directly in the shadow of Stromboli, which is famed for its near-constant volcanic eruptions.
Aysha's parents, Monica Abbate and Raffa Bazine, said they have no intention of leaving Ginostra and insisted their daughter is happy to be the sole student. Mr Bazine told Italian news outlet Ansa: "We love this little paradise, the nature, the sea, even the volcano that looms over our homes. We don't want to have to leave."
Her parents added that Aysha regularly spends time with peers who stay in the village for months at a time. She has also learned several German words from neighbours' children visiting Ginostra on vacation, with her parents describing her as a happy child.
Had the local school remained closed, Aysha would have been forced to travel by boat to attend school on Lipari, the largest island in the Aeolian archipelago. Ginostra has no roads connecting it to the rest of Stromboli, making boat travel its only access point, and rough seas frequently leave the community completely cut off.
Community support for remote schooling
Riccardo Gullo, the mayor of the village, welcomed the reopening as a vital measure for the hamlet. He described the decision as "a sign of solidarity for this isolated community" and stated that schooling should be "a fundamental right", even for residents in remote locations.
Father Nino Pirrotta, the local parish priest, also backed the initiative after offering parish property for the classroom. He said: "Schools are not just a place of learning, they are a focus for the community."
Ginostra's previous primary school closed 20 years ago as the local population shrank to approximately 40 residents. The isolation of the village is so pronounced that local residents have long nicknamed the hamlet "the island within an island".
Stromboli itself is part of the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily. The island's volcano remains one of the most active in Europe.
Filming legacy on the volcanic island
The island of Stromboli has long attracted international filmmakers due to its dramatic volcanic scenery. It famously served as the backdrop for director Roberto Rossellini's 1950 classic movie Stromboli, which starred Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman.
More recently, the remote location was transformed into a film set when Hollywood stars Mick Jagger, Dakota Johnson, and Josh O'Connor arrived on Stromboli. The A-list cast spent several weeks on the island earlier this year shooting scenes for Three Incestuous Sisters, an adaptation of the illustrated novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
Single pupil primary schools
Aysha is not the first student to receive a one-to-one education as the sole pupil at a remote primary school. Aron Anderson, who is now around 20 years old, was previously the only student at Skerries Community School on the tiny Scottish island of Out Skerries.
In 2015, it was reported that the local council paid 75,357 pounds per year for his education. The figure was double the price of sending a child to board at Eton College.
Out Skerries covers just two square miles and has a population of 70 residents. It is one of the most easterly of the Shetland Isles, located 386 miles north of Edinburgh and 805 miles north of London, with the nearest town of Lerwick situated two and a half hours away by ferry.
Lessons for Aysha in Ginostra are scheduled to begin on September 10, bringing primary education back to the island hamlet after a 20-year closure.
