Nicholas Marinilli, Group 6

Media Source: Ukraine: UNESCO’s response to children’s education needs (United Nations, 2022)

Over 4 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War — half of those refugees are children. Ukraine’s total school-age population stands shy of 7 million students, meaning roughly 30% of Ukrainian children are currently going without their traditional education (United Nations, 2022). This humanitarian crisis has created an education crisis for Ukrainian refugees and the allies working to ensure their access to proper education and health services. The United Nations agency has said that the war has “calls for increased coordination of host countries, both within and outside the EU, to assist and integrate Ukrainian learners, teachers and education staff in national education systems” (UN, 2022). If Ukrainian refugees are to receive an education, it will require a collective effort on everyone’s part.

It is helpful to map how countries support the educational needs of Ukrainian refugees. It is crucial to know how learners become integrated into mainstream education, the language and curriculum considerations decided, the psychosocial support students may need, the training and accreditation teachers will need, and more (UN, 2022). As inclusion is at the heart of this educational and humanitarian crisis, most students begin with transition classes that provide language classes, familiarise students with their local education system, provide psychological support, and evaluate competencies. Students become integrated into regular classes once their language skills improve (UN, 2022).

A significant factor that impacts refugee education is the level of financial support they have when dealing with the educational needs and resources of the host country. During the Russo-Ukrainian War, many countries tried to offer financial support to Ukrainian refugees. For example, Austria, France, Hungary, Polan, and Romania have waived tuition and provided financial support services to recent Ukrainian refugees (UN, 2022). Some governments have developed financial measures to support the education response, such as extra-budgetary allocation. Financial assistance has been helpful for Ukrainian refugees — the opposite experience of Syrian refugees in Lebanon as they cannot afford to pay for the local education (Human Rights Watch, 2016).

References:

Human Rights Watch (2016) “Growing Up Without an Education”: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon.

United Nations. (2022). Ukraine: UNESCO’s response to children’s education needs. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1115122