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Over a year into the conflict, millions of refugees from Ukraine remain displaced from their homes, with the majority having sought refuge in in Europe, and many others beyond. By June 2023, the combined number of Ukrainian refugees recorded in Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, The Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia reached 1,902,685. While Poland has welcomed the largest number of refugees, hosting nearly 1 million Ukrainians as of June 2023, Czechia hosts the highest number of refugees per capita of the seven countries reviewed, with over 350,000 Ukrainian refugees among a general population of 10.5 million.

91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ been working with UNHCR and the Regional Refugee Education Technical Hub for Ukraine to assess the extent to which refugees are included in policy and data systems in refugee hosting countries. This article highlights key education policy and data responses to meet the needs of Ukrainian refugees, showing promising practices and gaps that have been identified through comprehensive policy and data reviews conducted in seven countries hosting Ukrainian refugees: Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia.

Refugee inclusion hinges on the presence of comprehensive policies across a range of areas, starting with documentation. National laws and policies shape how refugees access schools, navigate transitions, and obtain certification of learning. Down the line, policy frameworks determine the extent to which refugees can access durable solutions and use what they have learned in school to build a better future.

Data plays a crucial role in enabling governments to formulate effective policies to meet the educational needs of refugees. For most of the world’s learners, progress towards the achievement of ) is consistently being measured. However, refugee children are often , which may limit the extent to which refugees are included in education policy, planning and programming.

While some Ukrainians continue to move across borders, many have settled in their host countries. According to the UNHCR reports, which have been conducted periodically over the last six months, 65% of Ukrainian refugees reported intentions to stay in their host country. While the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has made considerable efforts to develop the All-Ukraine Online School to cover all learners and subjects, all-online learning contexts are associated with considerable related to sustainability and quality, especially around wellbeing. As displacement continues and the prospect of return remains uncertain, inclusion in national education systems becomes the most sustainable way for host governments to ensure access to quality education, promote social cohesion, and prepare Ukrainian students for the future.

Across the seven countries included in this mapping, policy responses have been shaped by the activation of the by the European Union. On March 4, 2022, the Council voted to activate the Directive, allowing Member States to swiftly grant Ukrainians documentation and access to basic services, including education. While not a Member State, the Republic of Moldova has introduced a temporary protection scheme in line with the EU response.

Through existing legal frameworks as well as new policies and guidelines, host countries have taken steps to promote the inclusion of Ukrainian children in national schools. However, the availability of data to monitor the implementation of policies varies considerably. While data on enrolment is available across all countries, information on safety and quality is limited, making it difficult to monitor whether policies fully address the needs of Ukrainian students. Furthermore, there is no or insufficient data on enrolment beyond the primary and secondary levels of education.

Despite these provisions, enrolment in national schools remains very low across the seven countries and available data indicates that significant barriers to access remain. Education-related data covering the needs of refugee children and the capacity of host countries to support them is limited. Nonetheless, numerous data collection activities by host country governments and UN agencies provide preliminary figures on enrolment and barriers to education though access to timely publicly available data varies by country-context.

The estimated gross enrolment rate for Ukrainian refugees in primary and secondary education in the seven countries is 43%, ranging between 4%-59% within each country, meaning that 6 in 10 children are not enrolled in host country schools. These low enrolment rates may be the result of pendular movements or barriers such as language and absorption capacity, however, data gaps on the numbers of school-aged children and irregular releases of enrolment figures by many countries also inhibit the accurate estimation of enrolment.  

There are numerous barriers to access education, however language has been highlighted as a key barrier by families in all seven countries. For example, in , 6 in 10 Ukrainian refugees do not speak Hungarian and in this figure is over 7 in 10. Further, while it has been highlighted by several countries that there is capacity to integrate Ukrainian refugees in schools, there is currently a lack of publicly available data on the absorption capacity of host country schools.

Across the region, host countries have implemented policy measures to mitigate these barriers. In Romania, the Ministry of Education has issued exempting Ukrainian students from the National Exam requirement to progress to the 9^th grade and allowing for the expansion of enrolment capacity. Where data is available to track policy implementation, there have been positive indications of improved access and quality of education. In Czechia, data from the reveals a 34% increase in the employment of Ukrainian citizens in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and conservatories since the start of the 2022/2023 academic year, showcasing the success of policy measures that aim to facilitate the employment of Ukrainian teaching and non-teaching staff.

Given the nature of the conflict and unpredictable patterns of population movements, national authorities face considerable challenges in effectively planning, financing and maintaining policies and programmes to provide safe, quality education for Ukrainian refugee children. Further, as many children remain connected to Ukraine's online platform, the absence of children in host schools does not necessarily mean that they are not learning.

Mapping of national responses indicates that host countries have taken commendable steps to support inclusion, such as by easing enrolment requirements, providing language courses, and facilitating access to national exams. This means that there are many promising practices that can be captured and learned from, which can serve as evidence and offer valuable lessons to strengthen efforts of governments and communities to support inclusion.

Despite this, enrolment in national schools remains very low across the seven countries and available data indicates that significant barriers to access, such as language and absorption capacity, remain. Beyond this, an absence of reliable data on learning and safety creates considerable challenges for policy-makers and partners in understanding how to best support Ukrainian learners in host countries and communities.

As many Ukrainians settle in their host countries, and the war stretches on, it is crucial for host governments to begin to ensure that systems are in place to support refugee integration over the medium- to long-term or their return to Ukraine. In the interim, publicly available data covering all aspects of refugee education is critical to tracking and monitoring education provision, informing policy and programmatic support, enabling coordination with partners, and ultimately ensuring the right to education for Ukrainian children and learners in host communities.

• ±«±··¡³§°ä°¿â€™s mapping of education responses for Ukrainian refugees
• ±«±··¡³§°ä°¿â€™s actions in Ukraine
• ±«±··¡³§°ä°¿â€™s work in education in emergencies