Polish education system absorbs over 130,000 students from Ukraine

Over 130,000 Ukrainian children have already enrolled in the Polish school system, Poland’s education minister said on Monday.

Przemyslaw Czarnek made the announcement while visiting an economics school complex, on Monday, in the south-eastern city of Lublin, which has two preparatory departments ready for students from Ukraine.

"We already have 130,000 children and teenagers from Ukraine in the Polish education system," he said.

"These preparatory departments here… show that this is an excellent and flexible method of admitting Ukrainians to Polish schools, and one that does not place too much stress on them," he noted.

The education minister also pointed out that he was pleased to announce that in just a few days, 900 people had registered for basic Polish language courses organised by the Education Development Centre.

He also announced that more such groups would be formed and that this proved that "teachers and those people associated with education, as well as Ukrainians who came to Poland, want to learn quickly in order to work in Polish schools, and this type of work is very much needed."

Last week, the Center for the Education Development, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Education, started recruiting Ukrainian teachers and educational professionals who want to work in Polish schools as assistants to teachers, but do not speak Polish.

The sessions are free of charge and include 60 hours of Polish at a basic level (A1).

It will take six weeks to complete the courses. Classes are held online.