Ukrainian children will be able to study their language in Lithuania

The country re-adapts its educational system to welcome refugee children

The Lithuanian government has decided to provide the option for Ukrainian refugee children enrolled in the country’s educational system to choose to study their own language, as well, in addition to Lithuanian.

The aim behind this move is to provide an uninterrupted cultural link and continuity in the education of fleeing children, who are part of families planning to return back home once the war is over.

Ukrainian teachers will be employed to teach the language in Lithuania

The measure also gives the opportunity to Ukrainian teachers who have escaped from the war zones to find meaningful employment and to continue exercising their profession in Lithuania. Reportedly, there are a little over a thousand Ukrainian teachers in the Baltic country.

As for the number of Ukrainian children there, last week it was reported that they were about 11,000, though the number has likely increased.

Another great thing about the announcement was that lessons in Ukrainian language can be provided by redistributing lessons in the student's individual plan between subjects and from lessons provided for learning assistance. 

An individual educational plan is drawn up for each student, taking into account his / her expectations (or those of parents, guardians), available experience and achievements.

"Most Ukrainians hope to return home as soon as possible, so it is really important to enable children in our schools to continue learning their mother tongue, only if students want this and the school can provide it. When accepting children from Ukraine, schools first find out the (people’s) expectations, and individual education plans are often drawn up, so they can accommodate Ukrainian language lessons if students so wish,” explained Jurgita Šiugždinienė, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, as quoted by LRT.