Unicef issued a statement this Tuesday (29) in which it revealed alarming data about the educational situation of children in Ukraine.
The statement highlights that, after four years of interruptions in education due to the combined impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion that took place in 2022, a significant loss of learning is being verified among the country’s children.
Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, said: “Within Ukraine, attacks on schools have continued unabated, leaving children deeply distressed and without safe spaces to learn.”
De Dominicis went on to note that “not only has this left Ukraine’s children struggling to progress in their education, but they are also having difficulty retaining what they learned when their schools were fully functioning.”
Unicef released recent survey data revealing that the effects of the war and the pandemic on Ukraine’s education are alarming: 57% of teachers noted a deterioration in students’ Ukrainian language skills; 45% reported reduced math skills; and 52% noted a drop in foreign language skills.
Based on the latest enrollment figures, only a third of primary and secondary school age children in Ukraine are having full face-to-face classes. Another third are in a blended approach to teaching, combining face-to-face and online classes, and the last third are fully into online learning.
Unicef pointed out that online learning, while useful as a temporary solution, “cannot completely replace face-to-face classes, which are essential for social development and fundamental learning”, especially among “younger children”.
The entity’s survey also showed that two thirds of children of preschool age are not attending preschool and that three quarters of parents do not want to send their children to school units.
Unicef pointed out that the scenario is even more worrying for Ukrainian refugee children, who face an uncertain academic future. More than half of refugee children, from preschool through high school, are not enrolled in the national education systems of seven countries that host refugees.
Language barriers, difficult access to schools and overburdened education systems have contributed to low enrollment rates among these children.
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