Another meeting of the Regional Migration Policy Team is now behind us, devoted entirely to the topic of educating Ukrainian children in Polish schools. The meeting was chaired by Agnieszka Kapała-Sokalska, Member of the Board of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, and Józef Sarnowski, Member of the Board of the Pomeranian Voivodeship responsible for education.
The meeting was attended by over 160 participants, including representatives of the Ukrainian and Polish Ministries of Education and Science, the Consul General of Ukraine in Gdańsk, Oleksandr Plodostyi, and the former Consul of Ukraine, Lew Zacharczyszyn, Plenipotentiary of the Director of the European Solidarity Centre for Ukraine. We were also honored by the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk, Ms. Monika Chabior, responsible for the education of children and youth.
The key point of the agenda was an overview of the education of Ukrainian children in Poland and in Ukraine, including issues related to students remaining outside the Polish education system. This presentation was delivered by Mr. Yurii Kononenko, Director of the General Department of General Secondary and Preschool Education at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The activities of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science aimed at ensuring education for children from Ukraine were presented by Magda Witan, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation in Poland.
During the meeting, a report from a study conducted by Anna Mikulska as part of the activities of the Amnesty International Association, entitled “Challenges and Needs Related to the Influx of Students from Ukraine,” was presented.
Good practices from a school with preparatory classes were presented by Anna Listewnik, Principal of Primary School No. 57 named after Gen. Władysław Anders in Gdańsk. Issues related to childhood trauma in the context of supporting refugee students from Ukraine were discussed by Anna Rodziewicz, a psychologist from the Pomeranian Teacher Training Centre in Słupsk.
A report on the situation of students from Ukraine in Pomeranian schools was presented by Inna Shostak, Associate Professor at the Department of National Security and Political Science of the National University “Ostroh Academy” (Ostroh, Ukraine), affiliated with the Pomeranian Teacher Education Centre in Gdańsk.
