12
décembre
2023

​Fleeing Ukraine: Implementing temporary protection at local levels

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced millions of people to flee. Arriving in EU countries, they received protection in EU law under the Temporary Protection Directive. Many have begun to build a new life in their host country and enrich our societies in new ways. Local authorities took the lead in ensuring access to fundamental rights under temporary protection. This report explores the measures to ensure access to housing, education, employment and healthcare in 26 cities and regional authorities across 12 EU Member States. Despite unprecedented coordination and cooperation to overcome challenges, many uncertainties remain. Longer-term solutions will be needed after the directive expires in March 2025. Based on the information collected, the report identifies 12 priority actions and builds on FRA’s bulletins and survey findings on experiences of people displaced from Ukraine.

Education is a basic right set out in national constitutions and international and EU law, including the TPD (see ‘Legal corner’). This report focuses on compulsory primary and secondary education.

Legal corner

EU Member States must grant children enjoying temporary protection access to the education system under the same conditions as their own nationals, according to Article 14 of the TPD. Member States may confine this access to the state education system. They may also allow adult temporary protection beneficiaries to access the general education system.

Article 14 of the Charter guarantees the right to education for everyone, including the possibilities of receiving free compulsory education and having access to vocational and continuing training. Article 17 of the European Social Charter (Revised) requires parties to provide free primary and secondary education and encourage regular attendance at schools. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) recognises education as a legal right of all children, based on equality with nationals of the country where they live, and obliges the state to take measures regarding school attendance. It guarantees free compulsory primary education, free secondary education and access to higher education based on capacity.

Integrating displaced children from Ukraine required specific efforts that reconcile school attendance with due consideration for children’s need to keep in touch with their home language and culture. The European Commission outlined key principles and practices for the inclusion of displaced children in national education systems. They include providing school places, regardless of how long they intend to stay, preparing schools and teachers, and measures for early childhood.

Education policy is the responsibility of Member States. In federally organised states, regional or provincial authorities share responsibility for legislating on education with the central authorities. Examples are Austria (provinces) and Belgium (Flemish, French and German-speaking communities). Local authorities are otherwise typically responsible for implementation. They have some leeway to develop educational integration strategies, coordinate the operation of schools, including admission and enrolment, and develop measures ensuring the suitability of education.

However, the scope of responsibilities varies depending on the administrative organisation of the Member State. Multiple and locally differing approaches to integrating third-country national children are thus also possible in Member States with centralised school systems.

Arrivals from Ukraine significantly increased the number of school children, particularly in capital cities, as Figure 3 shows. Not all locations however, were able to provide figures or concrete data, because of the administrative burden. The large-scale arrivals of children prevented a coordinated information flow among national, regional and local administrations and schools, in some countries.

Figure 3 – Map of selected locations and number of displaced children from Ukraine enrolled in schools (kindergarten, primary and secondary) by January 2023

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Source: FRA, January 2023

Alternative text: A map showing the number of displaced children from Ukraine enrolled in schools at locations covered in this report. The largest number is in Warsaw, Poland with 17,623 children enrolled. The smallest number is in Malmö, Sweden with 166 children enrolled. Data for Bruges (211) represents children enrolled in primary and secondary education. Data for Brussels (1,976) includes seven children enrolled in special schools. Data for Nitra (400) refers to children enrolled in primary education only. Data from Trutnov (193) refers to children located in the city.

Member States granted displaced children full access to their educational systems and became stricter about school attendance with effect from the beginning of the 2022/2023 school year. Local authorities tried to support the integration of displaced children into their national education systems directly or through preparatory classes. The following are examples of local measures facilitating access to education.


FRA survey finding on continuity of education

Fewer than half of respondents who were in education shortly before leaving Ukraine have continued their education in the host country, according to FRA’s Fleeing Ukraine survey.

Source: FRA, Fleeing Ukraine, February 2023

Many displaced parents did not know that their children have the right and obligation to attend school in the Member State. Local authorities therefore reached out to displaced families via various channels to ensure that all children can benefit from the advantages of on-site schooling.

Ireland has adopted a proactive approach to raising awareness of the right to education for displaced children at school age. Regional education and language teams (REALTs) were established to support the needs of Ukrainian children arriving in Ireland. In December, Schools of Sanctuary held a workshop for displaced parents about the Irish education system. It presented the results of a survey of displaced parents from Ukraine.

Other municipalities raised awareness through dedicated websites and by mobilising support from social partners and NGOs. The city of Vienna maintains a dedicated website providing educational information to parents and guardians of displaced children. The city of Graz in Styria launched a welcome desk referring displaced parents to Welcome Schools (Willkommensschulen) at an early stage of the displacement in February 2022.

Similarly, in Italy, the Rome Municipality has dedicated a specific FAQ section to education for temporary protection beneficiaries. It has also provided a summary guide to the Italian educational system. On the official Naples Municipality website, the ‘Yalla!’ project delivers guidance and assistance services for the Ukrainian emergency. It has focuses especially on integrating children and adolescents into schools, and on language services.

The Ministry of Education allocated resources to support schools receiving children displaced from Ukraine. They share some of those resources with local authorities and in networks.

The city of Gothenburg, Sweden, featured a plan to direct people towards an open preschool facility, which told families about schools and how to apply.

Different approaches have been also reported at the level of districts in some capital cities that did not have a central comprehensive system for mapping capacities and placement options.

The Centre for Educational Analysis in Bratislava, Slovakia, has mapped the situation in 10 schools. One district in Bratislava had already appointed a coordinator for registered temporary protection families and successfully provided specific guidance on placing children in schools [93] Slovakia, interview with a representative of the Centre for Educational Analysis, Bratislava, 19 January 2023.
. Another district (Staré mesto), with 7 primary schools and 16 kindergartens, had received the largest number of pupils displaced from Ukraine. It did not establish a specific coordination system for the placement of children, but the principals of individual schools established an effective communication system, which provides information on existing capacity and vacant places [94] Slovakia, interview with the head of the Education Department, Old Town City Office, Bratislava, 20 January 2023.
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When a significant number of displaced children were in the same municipality, schools organised dedicated preparatory classes. These classes mainly supported language acquisition and provided knowledge about the host country, with gradual integration into mainstream classes. They ran either before or in parallel to regular class attendance.

In Prague, Czechia, the municipality organised ‘zero year’ preparatory classes in selected secondary schools before displaced children attended mainstream classes. Their goal was to help children learn Czech, adapt to the new school system and enter Czech secondary schools.

Tallinn is the only local government in Estonia to have launched two schools designed especially for displaced children from Ukraine with a language immersion programme. That means the language of instruction is Estonian, but up to 40 % of the curriculum can be taught in the students’ mother tongue.Räägu 49, an offshoot of Lilleküla Gymnasium, is for Ukrainian children in years 1–6. Vabaduse School is for students in years 7–12.

Conversely, in Warsaw, Poland, a Ukrainian school called SzkoUA was established in April 2022, to provide displaced children with the opportunity to study in Ukrainian and following Ukrainian curricula.

Displaced children in primary schools in Bruges and Brussels, Belgium, can choose to follow preparation classes or register with regular classes with extra support. The Wallonia-Brussels Federation offers newly arrived children 12–18 months of preparation in French, addressing both primary and secondary education needs. Similarly, in Bruges, refugee children may attend one year of preparation classes for non-Dutch-speaking newcomers while attending certain classes or activities with children in regular classes. This mitigates the risks of segregation.

In Warsaw [95] Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
and Lublin [96] Poland, online interview with the Education Department of Lublin municipal authority, 7 February 2023.
, Poland, schools can open preparatory units for pupils coming from abroad who do not know Polish or whose knowledge of it is insufficient for learning (see survey findings box), on the basis of the Act of 14 December 2016 (Education Law).The Law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens also mentions the possibility of establishing preparatory units at schools. Such units teach Polish at least six hours a week.

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) as well as NGOs also supported language acquisition processes at schools in Bratislava, Slovakia [97] Based on the memorandum of understanding between the City of Bratislava and the United Nations Children’s Fund as an emergency response to the situation with refugees from Ukraine; leaflet of the City Council of Bratislava, not available online.
, Naples, Italy [98] Italy, video interview with the head of the Global Inequality and Migration Unit, ActionAid, Naples, 12 January 2023.
, and Prague, Czechia [99] Czechia, video call with Prague Municipality, 25 January 2023.
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FRA survey findings on obstacles to continuing education

Language issues were the main reason for not attending education offered by the host country, according to FRA’s Fleeing Ukraine survey. Nearly four in ten respondents who needed to learn the host country’s language to continue their education had not attended a language course since arriving.

Source: FRA, Fleeing Ukraine, February 2023


2.1.3 Recognition of Ukrainian curricula and certificates

If students are to have continuity of education, and their achievements and qualifications are to be recognised if they return to Ukraine, it is essential to recognise Ukrainian curricula (see consultation findings box). Some EU Member States have recognition arrangements with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education to provide partial online education for displaced children studying abroad.

The Ministry of Education of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in Belgium, for example, published an instruction clarifying the application of general regulations to temporary protection beneficiaries. According to this guidance, equivalent certificates from the Ukrainian education system are not needed for accessing primary or secondary education. Subject to availability of places, parents can enrol their children in the school of their choice. Children can enrol during the school year.

The federation’s education website provides a summary table comparing the structure of education in Ukraine and in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. It also gives an overview of the most important information for temporary protection beneficiaries. It is available in French, Ukrainian and Russian [100] Belgium, written information provided by the Schools Service of the Brussels Government Centre for Expertise, Perspective, Brussels, 21 February 2023.
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FRA consultation findings on efforts towards compatibility of education

Some locations implemented specific initiatives to ensure that the education they offer is compatible with education in Ukraine. These included allowing parallel attendance of online courses by Ukrainian institutions, (Bruges, Brussels, Bucharest, Constanța, Gothenburg, Lublin, Vienna); enabling pupils to take Ukrainian school exams (Bruges, Gothenburg, Lublin, Tallinn, Vienna); and coordinating curricula to allow compatibility (Bruges). A respondent from Brussels, Belgium, referred to a specific organisation supporting displaced children in Belgian schools on a case-by-case basis. It also has  a crisis centre with people who speak Ukrainian, who can interpret and provide advice on different issues.

Source: FRA online consultation with 30 support organisations in 17 locations, June 2023

Several locations made use of teachers and other education personnel among the displaced people, in line with the recommendation of the European Commission. Some Member States hired Ukrainian-speaking support teachers to facilitate the transition into mainstream classes and allow children to maintain their bond with the Ukrainian language and culture.

In the province of Styria, Austria, for example, 19 of 52 newly hired teachers in ‘welcome schools’ are temporary protection beneficiaries from Ukraine. The city of Vienna granted fast-track work permits for teachers displaced from Ukraine to teach in bilingual so-called “Ukrainian classes” taught in German and Ukrainian.[101] Consultation with the Office of the Vice Mayor of Vienna and Executive City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency via email on 31 January 2023.

In Czechia, the Ministry of Education provides financial support to schools hiring Ukrainian teaching assistants. This facilitated the recruitment of 188 teaching staff from Ukraine in Prague by September 2022, including 100 teachers. The majority are temporary protection status holders. It is estimated that there are up to 10,000 teachers among displaced people.

The ministry allocated CZK 218 million (€ 9.3 million) for January–August 2023 across the whole country. A total of 552 schools from all regions can apply. The largest amount goes to Prague and Central Bohemia.

It takes time for Estonia to recognise Ukrainian qualifications. In Tallin, educational institutions can employ teachers from Ukraine on fixed-term contracts until then [102] Estonia, response to information request, Education Department, Tallinn, 10 January 2023.
.In Saaremaa, since autumn 2022, the local government has hired displaced teachers and psychologists to overcome the language barriers of students from Ukraine.

Similarly, in Berlin, Germany, 124 teachers from Ukraine were employed until November 2022 based on a simplified procedure [103] Germany, Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Affairs, consulted in February 2023; Süddeutsche Zeitung, ‘In Berlin sind 79 ukrainische Lehrkräfte angestellt’, 20 September 2022.
. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Brandenburg reported that temporary contracts as teachers and pedagogical staff can be granted to temporary protection beneficiaries with B2 level knowledge of German, and those with a proven C1 level knowledge can have permanent contracts. So far, as of July 2023, 237 teachers and pedagogical staff from Ukraine have been employed in Brandenburg under these conditions.

In Ireland, the education and training boards maintain a pool of tutors in English for Speakers of other Languages. In Kerry, the local education authority encourages temporary protection beneficiaries who speak English and are teachers to have their qualifications recognised by the Teaching Council. A tailored process has been established to support the registration and vetting of qualified Ukrainian teachers.

In Poland, the city of Lublin and the Polish Centre for International Aid signed a cooperation agreement. It developed the new position of ‘teacher assistant’ and allowed several schools in Lublin to employ about 75 teacher assistants from Ukraine in line with a ‘cash for work’ programme. This allows Ukrainian-speaking support teachers who do not yet have sufficient skills in Polish or whose Ukrainian diplomas are not yet certified in Poland to teach at Polish schools. Some 400 Ukrainian teacher assistants were employed in Warsaw [104] Poland, Education Office, Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
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Social support and well-being are essential to include children successfully in the school community and society as a whole. They are closely linked to protecting child rights, which is anchored in EU law and policy [105] Article 3 (3) of the TEU; Articles 7, 14, 24, 32 and 33 of the Charter. For example, see von der Leyen, Ursula, A Union that Strives for More: My agenda for Europe. Political guidelines of the European Commission 2019–2024, July 2019; European Commission, ‘EU action on the rights of the child; European Commission, ‘The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee; European Parliament Resolution of 11 March 2021 on children’s rights in view of the EU Strategy on the rights of the child (2021/2523(RSP)).
. In educational institutions, such support may include a financial subsidy, provision of free school materials or free school meals. Partnerships with NGOs or companies initially helped to support the integration of newly arrived children from Ukraine in local schools.

The city of Prague, Czechia, for example, provides school kits, including tickets to the Botanical Garden and the Planetarium. It extended that to displaced school children as well. In Trutnov, schools support round-table discussions for students with temporary protection to exchange information.

In Estonia, all students aged between 7 and 19 years with temporary protection are entitled to a one-off allowance (€ 50 per child) upon admission to school. The NGO Estonian Refugee Council administers it. It is intended for expenses related to starting school. In addition, monthly support of € 465 per student has been awarded to private schools that accepted temporary protection beneficiaries [106] Estonia, response to information request, Ministry of Education and Science, 30 January 2023.
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Local authorities in Warsaw, Lublin and Katowice, Poland, provided support for displaced children from Ukraine. It included free school meals, allowances and school equipment. Funding came from UNICEF, the Polish International Aid Centre and other organisations.

The company Jaguar Land Rover has operated in Nitra, Slovakia, for a long time. It provided a grant of € 92,000 for tablets, translators and laptops to schools hosting children from Ukraine [107] Slovakia, head of the Education Department, City Office, Nitra, 18 January 2023; interview with a representative of the COMIN centre, Nitra, 18 January 2023.
. Similarly, in Ireland, Microsoft Dream Space held science, technology, engineering and mathematics workshops for 60 children from Ukraine with support from the Irish Red Cross.

Promising practice: social support for school integration (Bruges)

In primary and secondary schools, ‘bridge figures’ from the city council work to build connections between the school, parents and the neighbourhood. They focus on child poverty and equal opportunity. These people played an important role in supporting displaced children and their parents. The ‘bridge figures’ were established in 2020 and have increased their team since then.

Source: Guide in Diversity in Bruges, consulted in February 2023; City of Bruges, ‘Brugfiguren onderwijs

FRA and the EUAA created a practical tool to help guardians support displaced children from Ukraine in registering for temporary protection and exercising their rights. The tool was published in 2022 and contains tips, a description of workflows related to temporary protection and additional resources.

Local education systems tried to take into account the uncertainty of stay, which was a significant challenge. For example, in Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research planned to provide children and young people from Ukraine with customised short-term and long-term options to continue their education.

Recognition of Ukrainian online schooling differed among Member States. The high numbers of arriving school children resulted in a variety of challenges for local authorities and schools, as the examples in the consultation findings box illustrate.

FRA consultation findings on challenges concerning education

Issues related to education and language acquisition were among the top challenges in supporting temporary protection beneficiaries, responding organisations from Brussels, Bucharest, Lublin, Tallinn and Vienna considered. They referred to differences from Ukrainian curricula and the impossibility of attending Ukrainian classes (Brussels, Bucharest, Tallinn); bullying and difficulties concerning language acquisition (Gothenburg); and incompatibility between educational systems (Lublin).

A support organisation in Vienna, Austria, referred to the possibility of acquiring Ukrainian school-leaving qualifications online that are recognised in Austria. However, many young people see themselves as bearing the double burden of attending both Ukrainian and Austrian schools to avoid gaps in their curricula and gain access to further educational opportunities in both countries.

Source: FRA online consultation with 30 support organisations in 17 locations, June 2023

A lack of reliable local data, administrative barriers and frequent changes in accommodation made school registration difficult in some locations. Challenges emerged because displaced children did not always register in the national education system.

In Italy, the Ministry of Education invited educational institutions to report the numbers of displaced Ukrainian school-age children accepted on a weekly basis, starting from 22 September 2022. However, participation by educational institutions was limited, the General Directorate for Information Systems and Statistics reported. In many cases they failed to register or validate the data appropriately because the numbers of arrivals and registrations were massive and fluctuating.

In Sweden, reliable data are lacking regarding the number of displaced children who have received residence status under the TPD and are registered at various school levels, both Malmö and Gothenburg authorities reported. That is partly because information about nationality is not requested at the time of application [108] Sweden, email, Department for Preschools, Malmö, 9 March 2023.
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Furthermore, people displaced from Ukraine have been moving from one place to another. That made it difficult to identify the exact numbers of children needing a school place in a certain location, and monitor children dropping out of school. In Czechia, data collection is difficult because of the high number of displaced people arriving, because of families and children returning to Ukraine, and because of their movement within Prague and throughout Czechia [109] Czechia, Prague Municipality, 20 and 25 January, 3 February and 23 March 2023.
. In Dublin, Ireland, and across the country, families were advised to wait for a week or two after registering for temporary protection, and then reaching their final accommodation, before enrolling their children in schools, to avoid disruptions or duplication of schools’ enrolment process [110] Ireland, consultation with a representative from City of Dublin REALT, 16 February 2023.
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Promising practice: collecting data on numbers of local school children (Poland)

In Poland, citizens of Ukraine CAN apply for a Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population (Powszechny Elektroniczny System Ewidencji Ludności, PESEL) number. It identifies an individual and allows Ukrainians to receive social benefits, use state medical services, work officially and study. The PESEL system is also designed to provide data on how many children of school age are registered in each city. A separate category, PESEL UKR, has been created for displaced Ukrainians with temporary protection status.

Source: Poland, Special Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens (Ustawa o pomocy obywatelom Ukrainy w związku z konfliktem zbrojnym na terytorium tego państwa), 12 March 2022

Administrative and regulatory barriers also made enrolment difficult. In Austria, compulsory schooling age ends at 15 years old. In Graz, admission above that age depends on the decision of the school [111] Austria, interview with the head of the Department of Education and Integration, City of Graz, 12 January 2023.
. Because capacity is limited, children above that age often cannot continue their education.

Challenges can also emerge when displaced children are not registered in the national education system. Slovakia, for example, does not require children enjoying temporary protection to attend school [112] Slovakia, head of Education Department, Old Town City Office, Bratislava, 20 January 2023.
. The initial school placement system was not coordinated and schools did not receive further guidance from the Ministry of Education other than to enrol children in schools based on their capacity [113] Slovakia, Centre for Educational Analysis, Bratislava, 19 January 2023.
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A major challenge is identifying children who are at risk of dropping out of school and are not enrolled in the educational system.

The authorities have asked for support from all relevant actors, including those in direct contact with the refugee community, as reported in Bucharest and Constanța, Romania. In August 2022, the UN reportedly identified disparities between the official local guidelines on school capacity and the actual situation in both cities. This situation required launching an accurate reporting system and simplifying the school enrolment procedure. UNICEF also urged competent authorities to identify and reduce administrative and regulatory barriers that block children’s access to formal education in all education cycles.

Displaced students have dropped out of school for gainful work in Warsaw, Poland [114] Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
. There, young people may be employed from the age of 16, provided they have finished primary school (eight years).

Moreover, there is no central system for monitoring school attendance in either the Polish or the Ukrainian system. Warsaw’s local authorities do not have the power to check if a refugee child is enrolled in or dropping out from either a Polish or a Ukrainian school. Enrolment data for Roma children from Ukraine in Polish schools are missing, Lublin and Katowice education department representatives reported.[115] Poland, consultations with Education Department of Katowice municipal authority, 9 January 2023, and Education department of Lublin municipal authority, 7 February 2023.
By January 2023, the majority of Roma children from Ukraine lived at the large reception centre on the premises of the Warsaw Expo centre, where they could only follow limited educational activities [116]
  Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023. See also FRA (2023), The Russian aggression against Ukraine – Displaced children finding protection in the EU – Bulletin 3, 29 September 2023; section 4.2 access to education.
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Where the number of displaced children is particularly high, local authorities struggled to reinforce basic infrastructure and to hire and train teachers and other educational staff.

FRA survey finding on availability of school places

One in five survey respondents aged 12–15 noted not being accepted by a school as the main reason for not attending school.

Source: FRA, Fleeing Ukraine, February 2023

Many local schools had reached full capacity. In Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany, school authorities faced challenges to distribute school children within the cities and provide daycare and school places in districts with a high number of collective accommodation facilities. Where a school reaches capacity, displaced children, including young children, have to travel to another part of the city. In Poland, the Warsaw municipal education office reported challenges responding to the schooling needs of Roma children from Ukraine, who often live far away from local schools [117] Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
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Promising practice: mapping vacant teaching spaces (Malmö, Gothenburg)

The Department for Compulsory Education of the city of Malmö assigned more staff to mapping the vacant premises that could be used as teaching spaces for newly arrived students. Similarly, the city of Gothenburg formed a working group within its Department for Compulsory Education to receive and assign displaced school pupils while increasing its resources. It allocated additional resources to the reception unit for newly arrived students, to introduce and map students from Ukraine.

Source: Sweden, Department for Compulsory Education, Malmö, and Department for Compulsory Education, Gothenburg, both consulted in November 2022.

Insufficient capacity often resulted in overcrowding. Almost all public schools had to reconsider their rules about class capacity. Local authorities and schools tried to overhaul legal provisions on, for example, the number of square metres per child per classroom.

In Bruges, Belgium, two secondary schools offering preparatory classes for displaced children reached full capacity [118] Belgium, consultation with the coordinator of the PCSW, Bruges, 23 January 2023.
. In Saaremaa, Estonia, the mayor underlined in October 2022 that the city could no longer cope with new arrivals, as the schools, kindergartens and welfare system in the municipality had reached their limits.

In Ireland, the Dublin City Community Cooperative raised an early alarm that capacity was lacking, especially in Dublin North Inner City. People raised similar concerns about West Kerry schools. The Department of Education is working with the REALT to make the necessary arrangements.

In Czechia, PAQ Research demonstrated that insufficient capacity was a key impediment to school attendance. In pre-schooling, 15 %–20 % of displaced children had not obtained a place; in primary education, 3 %–5 %; in secondary education, about 10 %. The study also revealed a clear correlation between school attendance and the parents’ employment status and housing conditions. Children who live in stable accommodation are more likely to attend school than children who live in temporary accommodation.

Promising practice: coordinating school placements (Nitra)

COMIN is the contact point for all foreigners arriving and living in Nitra, Slovakia. The COMIN centre provides them with assistance services and legal aid. The local educational department has established effective cooperation with it to efficiently coordinate the placement of children in schools depending on their registered accommodations.

Because schools do not have enough capacity, COMIN, UNICEF and Nitra municipality are exploring alternatives with schools in neighbouring municipalities. The project is considering the use of school buses. An agreement among the regional education authorities is pending.

Sources: Information provided by COMIN centre, Nitra, 18 January 2023; Komenského inštitút, ‘Prvý reprezentatívny prieskum o začleňovaní ukrajinských detí do škôl: S čím sa boria učitelia?’, 21 June 2022

Transition from preparatory or parallel online classes to regular classes in the national education systems was challenging. Sometimes it risked segregation.

Monolingual preparatory classes with homogeneous composition may raise pedagogical challenges regarding language acquisition. Segregation risks may arise in some cases, education authorities in Tallinn, Estonia, and in Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany, recognised [119] Estonia, response to information request, Education Department, Tallinn, 10 January 2023, Germany, Department for Education, Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Affairs, January 2023 and education authorities, Stuttgart, January 2023.
. Such risks also occurred where there were shortages of classrooms in school buildings and teachers.

For example, in Prague, Czechia, the municipality observed a risk of segregation and a related decline in the quality of education as many children from Ukraine enrolled in schools with free capacity, which were often unattractive to local residents. Teaching many children with language barriers further affected the quality of education, and children from Czechia dropped out more often [120] Czechia, video calls with Prague Municipality, 25 January and 3 February 2023.
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When displaced children had to learn the local language before attending regular classes, they often had to repeat years and were older than their classmates [121] Austria, Office of the Vice Mayor of Vienna and Executive City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, 31 January 2023.
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Promising practice: integrating preparatory classes into regular school schedules (France)

France provides regular classes with intensive teaching of French. They are for all grades.

Children displaced from Ukraine often show a higher level of knowledge in certain subjects, especially exact sciences such as mathematics, than their French peers. In such cases, the pupils develop strengths in the local school curriculum and recognition among their peers. That boosts their self-esteem and motivates them to learn.

Sources: France, Mon coeur ukrainien, Île-de-France, January 2023; Ministry of Education, ‘Scolarisation des enfants allophones nouvellement arrivés

Parallel online schooling according to Ukrainian curricula (see survey finding box) created various challenges for the children concerned as well as for school administrations. A FRA bulletin gives an overview of measures supporting the integration of children in formal educational systems.

For example, in Germany, compulsory schooling is the general rule. It also applies to displaced children. If they wish to attend online Ukrainian classes too, parents must ensure that this does not affect regular school hours.

In France, the Ministry of Education requires written proof that displaced children below the age of 16 are enrolled in the French education system. Otherwise they can be fined [122] France, telephone interview with a representative of the French Association of Ukrainians of the Côte d’Azur, Alpes-Maritimes, 18 January 2023.
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FRA survey finding on attendance of Ukrainian online schooling

Almost two thirds of children responding to the FRA survey attended online education with a school/university in Ukraine or taught themselves using materials with support from Ukraine.

Source: FRA, Fleeing Ukraine, February 2023

Additional schooling during a child’s free time creates stress and overlaps. In Romania, online classes with the Ukrainian national education system were mainly in the mornings and thus overlapped with the Romanian classes. According to data collected in October 2022, most (85 %) secondary school-aged children (12–17) would prefer to take part in online learning; only 52 % of primary school-aged children (6–11) displaced from Ukraine and 1 % of children under the age of 5 intended to attend distance learning in the school year 2022-2023.

Pupils following distance learning from Ukraine while studying Swedish found it stressful to study both at the same time [123] Sweden, City of Gothenburg, department for upper secondary education, 21 February 2023.
. Most displaced students received weekly assignments from their school in Ukraine. They completed them in the evenings and at weekends, so that they could physically attend Swedish schools.

Promising practices: granting special rights to displaced secondary school children (Alpes-Maritimes)

A general agreement allowed displaced children to finish Ukrainian high school online to get their diplomas without interrupting their learning. This applied to displaced children at secondary graduation level who joined the French academic year 2021/2022.

Source: French Association of Ukrainians of the Côte d’Azur, Alpes-Maritimes, 18 January 2023

Language barriers, overloaded teaching and psychological support staff, and the need for extra resources to train school staff were key obstacles to providing adequate psychological support to displaced children in school (see consultation finding box and Section 4.2.5).

FRA consultation findings on special educational needs

Eight education support organisations responded to FRA’s question. Six of them considered that at least some or most displaced school children have special educational needs linked to psychological stress or war-induced trauma.

In Lublin, Dublin, Bucharest and Gothenburg, all, most or many of the displaced children coming from Ukraine are traumatised, respondents underlined. In Brussels, Bruges, Bucharest and Vienna, only a few or some of the children are traumatised, respondents estimated. In Gothenburg, 67 % of displaced children have trouble adapting to school and society, 34 % show symptoms of stress and trauma, and eight pupils have tried to commit suicide, according to a survey by a responding organisation.

Although respondents from Bruges and Tallinn mentioned that special educational needs are adequately addressed in their areas, most respondents believe that special educational needs are not or only partly addressed. They mentioned language (Dublin) and already overstretched educational services (Brussels and Dublin) as the main barriers to adequately addressing special educational needs. They also pointed out a need for more psychological support and adequate means for teaching staff to support traumatised children (Vienna), and a lack of financial resources for organising care activities and hiring additional specialists (Lublin).

Source: FRA online consultation with 30 support organisations in 17 locations, June 2023

In Stuttgart, Germany, war-induced psychological stress poses challenges for teachers and displaced children at school, the education authority noted.

A representative of Educate Together in Ireland called on all schools in Ireland to give access to the National Education Psychological Service [124] Ireland, consultation with a representative of Educate Together, South Dublin, 15 February 2023.
. Pieta is a good resource for counselling support, according to the informant.

A quarter of primary school teachers in Bratislava, Slovakia, have observed psychological discomfort when teaching displaced children from Ukraine, whereas at national level a fifth of teachers have, according to a survey conducted in August 2022. In Nitra, almost every school has a psychologist, but they usually do not speak Ukrainian, so their support for the children is limited. There is currently only one psychologist in the city from Ukraine who visits schools and works with children [125] Slovakia, interview with the head of the Education Department, City Office, Nitra, 18 January 2023
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The need for more qualified staff to deal with traumatised children was also noted in Austria [126] Austria, email, Office of the Vice Mayor of Vienna and Executive City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, 31 January 2023.
and Poland [127] Poland, interview with Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
(see promising practice box).

Promising practice: working with Ukrainian- or Russian-speaking psychologists (Warsaw, Katowice, Lublin)

The education departments of Warsaw, Katowice and Lublin, Poland, contacted the local psychological-pedagogical public counselling centres to seek Ukrainian- or Russian-speaking psychologists. They included people with temporary protection status. Mobile psychological help teams have been considered an effective practice.

Source: Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023; Healthcare department of Lublin local authorities, 5 January 2023; Education department of Katowice municipal authority, January 2023.

Displaced children may have special needs related to their disabilities. Ensuring their access to education has been a challenge in many locations. International standards require children with disabilities to access and participate in education on the same basis as all other students, in mainstream schools. Children living in residential care should have access to community-based schools outside the care facility whenever possible.

In schools in Vienna, Austria, specially qualified teachers receive displaced school children with disabilities or chronic diseases. They assess and allocate them to suitable school places, in the same way as Austrian children, in a special education class or an integration class [128] Austria, email, Office of the Vice Mayor of Vienna and Executive City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, 31 January 2023.
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Tallin, Estonia, uses care centres for all children with special needs, including children under temporary protection [129] Estonia, response to information request, Education Department, Tallinn, 10 January 2023.
. Saaremaa has deployed support staff to families whenever needed [130] Estonia, response to information request, Saaremaa Municipality, 12 January 2023.
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Support for special education needs in schools is a major challenge, the Education and Training Board in Kerry, Ireland, reported. Both Dublin and Kerry REALT teams cooperate with the National Council for Special Education Needs to adequately address special educational needs of displaced children. Additional resources for special education needs have been provided to schools where a large number of Ukrainian pupils with special educational needs have enrolled.

In Warsaw, Poland, educating children with special needs is challenging [131] Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
. The number of places at special education or integration schools is limited. Certification systems differ between Poland and Ukraine, which complicates the translation of relevant documents [132] Poland, interview with the Education Office of Warsaw City Council, 5 January 2023.
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Promising practice: integrating children with special needs (Trutnov)

In Trutnov, Czechia, children with special needs are referred to a local centre that specialises in children with disabilities or special educational and psychosocial needs. Volunteers or the employees of the community centre provided interpretation. The local club for people with disabilities offered educational, after-school and extracurricular activities for displaced children from Ukraine. Temporary protection beneficiaries in return volunteered to assist local people with wheelchairs.

Source: Czechia, municipal officer from Trutnov who coordinated most municipally led initiatives concerning displaced people from Ukraine, 17 February 2023