With the number of Ukrainian children outside of Poland’s education system ranging between 200,000 to 300,000, Poland may need to ask for international help in accommodating them within some sort of an education system, Poland’s Education and Science Minister Przemysław Czarnek has told Radio Wnet.
“Between 200,000 to 300,000 Ukrainian children are not enrolled in the education system,” the official said, adding that “if this situation continues, we will require the help of international agencies with the view to accommodating those children within some sort of an education system.”
Currently, there are 187,000 Ukrainian children learning at Polish schools, according to the official.
“Yesterday I spoke with a UNHCR representative,” Czarnek said, adding that between 200,000 and 300,000 Ukrainian children remained outside Poland’s education system.
When asked whether the number of Ukrainian children in Polish schools had slumped because they left the schools while also remaining in Poland, the official attributed the decrease to the children returning to Ukraine. Czarnek went on to add that they continued to benefit from Ukraine’s remote education system, which, due to the ongoing war, performed only to the extent that the conditions of the armed conflict permitted.
“Last year, we estimated the number of Ukrainian children in Poland at about 700,000 with 200,000 of them enrolling in Polish schools and 500,000 resorting to Ukraine’s remote education system,” Czarnek said.
The minister went on to say that Poland would gradually introduce compulsory learning for Ukrainian children in Poland, should the war continue.
