EU education ministers agreed on Wednesday 16 March to ensure the most relevant and coordinated support for Ukrainian refugee children and teachers in the European Union.
Chaired by French Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, the ministerial meeting also identified Ukraine’s concrete needs, thanks to the presence of Ukrainian Minister Serhiy Shkarlet and European Commissioner for Education Mariya Gabriel via video conference.
Two policy commitments were agreed upon: - to ensure that Ukrainian refugee children in the EU have a right to education, while allowing them to maintain a link with the Ukrainian education system; - the establishment of a dedicated European working group, with the support of the European Commission.
This working group will ensure coordination of actions, pool resources and maintain a link with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education. It will be steered by a high-level committee that will meet weekly.
Five areas of work. The first area of work identified is the funding of initiatives for the integration of Ukrainian pupils and teachers, particularly in Member States at the forefront of the refugee influx.
Mariya Gabriel presented a few ideas. Member States will be able to make use of the cohesion policy’s structural funds (ERDF, ESF), the new CARE instrument (see EUROPE 12912/8), the ReactEU top-up facility, and/or the Home Affairs Fund (see other news). Unused funds from the 2014-2020 programming period may also be redirected and mobilised in this context.
The Europeans discussed the funding of scholarships. The Erasmus+ programme could be a resource for sending educational staff to host countries and for integrating pupils and teachers into European education systems. The European Commission will develop guidelines for this purpose and is prepared to provide technical assistance to States more generally.
The second area of work is the establishment of a European education portal with an information platform on schooling in the Member States, accessible in Ukrainian. One-stop-shops for enrolment in European schools could be envisaged. The ‘School Education Gateway’ portal will facilitate access to resources for host teachers, in cooperation with the Education Platform in Ukraine.
The partners will also pay attention to the mental health of young Ukrainians.
The fourth axis will therefore focus on access to the Ukrainian language, culture and education system to enable Ukrainian children to learn the language of the host country and retain their Ukrainian language skills. A platform will therefore be available for Ukrainian teachers.
The ministers wish to encourage the reception of these Ukrainian teachers, notably through the eTwinning programme. Three thousand Ukrainian teachers are already part of it, Maryia Gabriel stressed.
Finally, in the longer term, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education has insisted on developing mechanisms to rebuild the Ukrainian education system when possible. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)