The number of children among the 2 million refugees fleeing Ukraine since the 24th of February is estimated to be around 650,000.  

If 500,000 of them would start attending school in Poland from September, the cost would be approximately PLN 10 million (GBP 1.8 million), according to estimations from the education ministry reported by Money.pl.

A significant challenge awaits the Polish school system, given the fact that most of the freshly-arrived Ukrainian children do not speak Polish fluently. This is why the Polish ministry of education wants to put a special emphasis on the extension of the already existing preparatory classes. 

With schools already having a hard time finding enough staff, new regulations will soon allow former teachers to collect a bridging pension to return to work in these preparatory classes.

After consultation with local authority representatives, the Ministry of Education agreed to increase the size of preparatory classes from 15 to 25 pupils. In the school year 2020/2021, Ukrainian pupils were 60,000 of the 4.9 million pupils in Polish schools. The proportions are changing at a very fast rate. 

In Poland, pupils aged between 7 and 18 are entitled to a place in the school of the area they are residing in. This benefit will apply to the Ukrainian children who have been arriving in Poland for the last weeks as well. 

The children’s parents will be asked to submit an official application to a designated school. If this one school is already full, the local council will discuss the matter in order to find an alternative.

Image: Pixabay

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen