In the school year 2023/2024 about 350 000 abroad students were taught in Polish schools, which represented 7% of all students. The vast majority of this group were Ukrainians, with a full of 290 000, and more than half of them were children of school age. fresh legal changes have caused the number of Ukrainian children in Polish schools to increase importantly since September 2024.
Introduction of a school work for Ukrainian children
As indicated in the study of the Centre for Civic Education (CEO) prepared in cooperation with UNICEF, entitled "Ukrainian students with exile experience in the Polish education system" from April 2024, about 135 1000 children and young people from Ukraine who came to Poland after the outbreak of the war in February 2024 can learn in Polish schools. This figure is comparable to the average size population of cities specified as Green Mountain or Rybnik.
Currently, as a consequence of changes in regulations, the school work besides includes those children from Ukraine who were previously outside the Polish educational system. Experts estimation that the number of Ukrainian children who were not enrolled in Polish schools before September could be between 20 and 80 thousand.
Dr Jędrzej Witkowski, president of the CEO, pointed out the complexity of the educational situation of Ukrainian children during the “Show – Forward” conference organised by the Copernicus discipline Centre. He pointed out that earlier children could survey in Polish stationary schools or participate in online learning in the Ukrainian educational system, which complicated the precise number of students utilizing each of these systems. Witkowski added that from September this year these children will be included in the Polish education system.
Integration of Ukrainian students in Polish schools
The Ministry of National Education (MEN) emphasises that children from Ukraine will be able to learn Polish for at least 4 hours a week. In addition, support is provided in the form of intercultural assistants who will assist in the integration process. Teachers will have access to additional training and intellectual and educational support. The schools besides introduced financial support to aid adapt Ukrainian students.
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Experts are calm about the readiness of the Polish education strategy to accept more students from Ukraine. As they emphasize, Polish education has already successfully integrated more than 150 000 fresh students from Ukraine, which was possible thanks to the large effort of teachers and school management. Dr Witkowski points out that the process of integrating pupils, especially those with another native language, usually takes 3 to 4 years. Although the Polish education strategy is already better prepared for this challenge, actions are inactive needed to support teachers in working with abroad students and in developing their intercultural competences.
Challenges for teachers and students
One of the main challenges that teachers face in Polish schools is working with students for whom Polish language is not their native language. As Witkowski notes, the abrupt appearance in the student class, which does not full realize the teacher's instructions, requires another methods of work and evaluation.
The Polish education strategy assumes that abroad students implement the same programming basis as Polish students, while learning Polish language, past and culture. Additionally, classes from Polish as a abroad language are offered, which is crucial for their educational success. Similarly, education systems in another European countries operate.
One of the challenges is the presence of intercultural assistants who can support the integration of pupils. MEN is working on further developing the competence of teachers to cope more effectively with education in culturally diverse classes.
Future prospects
In the school year 2024/2025 students attending the highest classes in the Ukrainian education strategy will be able to complete their education online and will not be obliged to attend Polish schools. Students graduating from the Polish eighth grade will be exempted from the Polish language exam on the eighth grade exam.
The presence of specified a large number of students from Ukraine in Polish schools requires the Polish education strategy to further develop, but as experts emphasize, Polish schools are on their way to providing adequate support to both teachers and students in the integration process.
Daniel Głogowski
Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.
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The increase in the number of Ukrainian students in Polish schools poses a serious challenge to the education system
