Czechia's education responses to the influx of Ukrainian students

Preschool and Basic Education

The integration of Ukrainian refugee students into the education system will gradually occur through three steps. The first step will be for children to acclimate to their new environment and receive mental health support. Next, during an adaptation period, children will be enrolled in leisure activities in peer groups to help them learn the Czech language.

Subsequently, admission to pre-primary or primary and secondary schools will be considered with preference in institutions that have experience teaching learners with different mother tongues and as long as the child has not experienced acute trauma. When the new school year starts, school will accept Ukrainian students by law.

In case a school is at capacity, new rules were established to increase the capacity in schools and school facilities and/or regional authorities can designate another school within driving distance where the pupil can enroll. 

In parallel, children will receive distance education following the Ukrainian curriculum, in collaboration with Embassy of Ukraine to Czechia and the NGO Children of Ukraine. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports shared guidelines for all schools and school facilities on how to support distance education of Ukrainians.

Secondary education

Special procedures have been put in place by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for the admission of Ukrainian applicants for secondary education with a school-leaving examination. The deadline is 5 April 2022 to take the exam this year. Instructions for the state entrance exam in mathematics were also shared on the Ministry’s website.

The collaborative project between the Czech and the Ukrainian governments is also delivering teaching materials and textbooks from Ukraine to the participating schools. The project, which will aim to support children’s transport to schools, has already opened five classes in Prague for approximately 100 children. The project is also setting up a database of Ukrainian teachers and Czech volunteers.

In addition, the government is offering employment opportunities for Ukrainian citizens as teaching assistants in all schools and facilities, providing information on their site on getting a professional qualification, recognition of previous degrees, level of knowledge of Czech required.

The Government announced that it would allocate CZK 150 million to support Ukrainian higher education students.