Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - With the new school year, the number of Ukrainian children and young people in Hessian schools has risen to around 15,100. Compared to the time before the summer holidays, this corresponds to an increase of around 2000 students, as the Hessian Ministry of Education announced on Friday. To improve their language skills, the children and young people who fled Ukraine received compulsory German lessons in the existing intensive classes and courses. Their number has risen to around 1760 across all school types.
"The war against Ukraine continues to have a significant impact on our school system," said Minister of Education Alexander Lorz (CDU) of the German Press Agency in Wiesbaden. "Many families from there have to leave their homeland with their children and are looking for protection with us." Despite all the challenges, the integration into the Hessian school system continues to be successful and orderly.
A total of around 31,500 refugee or immigrant children and young people are currently being taught language skills in the intensive classes and intensive courses. The largest part comes from Ukraine with 15,100 participants, explained the Minister of Education. Around 8,200 children and young people came from countries outside the EU with a large number of refugees, such as Afghanistan, Syria or Somalia.
In addition to the obligatory instruction in the intensive classes and courses, the children and young people from Ukraine received a voluntary supplementary offer in the Ukrainian language at the respective schools if required. According to the ministry, different learning content from different subjects is addressed in these lessons. The digitally available official textbooks from Ukraine can be used for support. The number of teaching staff from Ukraine employed at Hessen's schools is now more than 200.
