Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – North Rhine-Westphalian schools have taken in 36,558 refugee children and young people from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. Since the end of February, NRW has had the highest number of students from the Ukraine of all federal states at general and vocational schools. Across Germany there were 193,141 children and young people, as the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) announced on Thursday.
According to the reports from the federal states to the KMK, the number of registered students in Bavaria was 29,014 people and in Baden-Württemberg in third place with 26,573 refugee students. The education unions VBE and GEW as well as teachers’ associations emphasized that their admission represents a major challenge for the institutions and teachers. A lack of space, a shortage of teachers, a lack of personnel to cope with war trauma or to interpret were mentioned. That makes integration much more difficult. Many school-age children also waited months for a place at school or received only limited opportunities.
In NRW, three weeks after the start of the new school year at the end of August 2022, almost 2,160 newly immigrated Ukrainians were still waiting for a school place. The state government wants to provide additional millions for more teaching positions, as Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) announced two weeks ago.
According to EU Council decisions, Ukrainian war refugees receive a one-year residence permit in all member states, which can be extended by a further two years. Refugees do not have to go through an asylum procedure. Children and young people from the Ukraine are therefore required to go to school as soon as they have permanent residence in NRW.
