Czech Republic Extends Funding for Integration Program for Ukrainian Children

The Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic will allocate funding for Ukrainian teacher assistants. It will be provided for both salaries and other expenses related to the work of assistants in schools. The specific conditions for funding will be clarified by the ministry in July, according to Radio Prague International.

"The support of integration activities in schools is absolutely necessary for the successful integration of Ukrainian children into the Czech education system. Therefore, schools can count on language training support and funding for Ukrainian teacher assistants in the upcoming academic year, as decided by the Minister of Education," said Aneta Lednova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

The main purpose of Ukrainian teacher assistants in the Czech Republic is to support the integration of refugees from Ukraine into local schools. According to the new methodology of the Ministry of Education, which will be implemented in the next academic year, the assistants whose work is funded by the ministry will work in classrooms where Ukrainian students study together with other children. However, the ministry considers it inappropriate to involve assistants in classes where the majority or all students are Ukrainians.

According to the methodology, Ukrainian teacher assistants should have a good command of the Czech language to effectively perform their duties in the classroom. The language proficiency is assessed by the school director during interviews.

From September to December 2022, approximately 114 million Czech crowns were allocated to 583 schools for funding Ukrainian assistants. Since January of this year, the Ministry of Education has provided approximately 218 million Czech crowns for Ukrainian assistants and covered other related expenses in 552 schools.

Until now, funding for Ukrainian teacher assistants was provided to kindergartens and primary schools where at least ten Ukrainian children were enrolled. Secondary schools and conservatories could also request such funding if they had at least twenty Ukrainian students.

Currently, according to the Ministry of Education, there are 2,090 Ukrainian citizens with temporary protection working in Czech schools, which is 526 fewer compared to last September. Among them, 317 individuals hold teaching positions, 694 work as other pedagogical staff, and 1,076 individuals work in non-teaching positions.

In Czech kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools, there are currently 51,281 Ukrainian children enrolled, accounting for 2.8% of the total number of students in these educational institutions.