We examined how many students from across the eastern border will attend Polish schools in September. The Selectivv Data Tank team has prepared a report on the education of young Ukrainian and school-age Ukrainians. We examined how many students from across the eastern border will attend Polish schools in September. The Selectivv Data Tank team has prepared a report on the education of young Ukrainian and school-age Ukrainians who came to Poland after Russia attacked Ukraine on 02/24/2022.
The study was conducted on a sample of 500 people of Ukrainian origin who came to Poland after February 24, 2022, and stayed in the territory of the Republic of Poland with children under 18 years of age. The age categories of children have been established based on the Polish school age:
● under 7 - preschool age,
● 7 - 15 years old - primary school students,
● 15 - 18 years old - secondary and technical secondary school students.
We present the average profile of the studied group of refugees based on the data. The model Ukrainian parent in Poland is a woman (61% of respondents) aged 35-44 (42%) with children under 7 (38%).
High school students at school - kids at home. We found that as many as 90% of refugee children did not attend Polish schools in the last school term. Thus, education in Poland was undertaken by only 10% of children from the surveyed families. The older the child, the greater the probability that its name appeared in the Polish daily at the end of the school year. Among the attending group, high school students accounted for the highest percentage (29%). How was it in the previous school year?
In the last semester, Polish schools were attended by a small percentage of students from Ukraine, but their parents are primarily satisfied with the decision made. 61% of the respondents assessed the level of preparation of domestic institutions positively (good or excellent). The opposite opinion was expressed by 22% of parents who described their children's educational experience as bad or very bad.
In addition to the institutions, we also examined the feelings associated with accepting refugees by classmates. More than 2/3 of the respondents believed their students from Ukraine were received well or very well by their school peers. Only 20% of parents said their children had experienced a bad or very bad reception.
Before the school year 2022/2023, Ukrainian families more often declare their willingness to enroll their children in Polish schools. As many as 39% of respondents stated that on September 1, their children would start education in Polish institutions for the first time. In this group, parents of preschool and primary school children constitute a clear advantage.
Our team also asked about the plans of refugee parents to stay in Poland for the next 12 months. Most of the respondents (52%) decided to stay in the country for this time. Only 8% of parents plan to return to Ukraine, while 30% are still in a state of uncertainty ("don't know" option). This state of affairs is naturally related to the lack of stability of the respondents, typical of a group fleeing the still ongoing war. This phenomenon is most clearly visible in the parents of high school students closest to the end of their education.
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