Education Minister Branislav Gröhling (SaS) (source: TASR)
About 1,000 Ukrainian children have been enrolled in Slovak kindergartens, primary and secondary schools since the war in Ukraine started on February 24.
Education Minister Branislav Gröhling (SaS) said that his ministry launched data collection this week and these are the first results. By the end of next week, the ministry expects to know how many children applied to all education levels from kindergarten to universities.
The Minister added that the greatest interest in enrolling children is in Bratislava Region. Most children were enrolled in primary schools, the TASR newswire reported.
One-off contribution
Gröhling confirmed that they have been preparing a one-off financial contribution for schools to cover the increased costs. He cited the purchase of new desks and chairs as well as paying for lunches.
The government also approved Lex Ukraine on Wednesday, which relates to the clean criminal record of teachers, required when pedagogical employees apply for a job in schools.
“The proposal until the end of the emergency situation will entail that individual teachers will submit a statutory declaration and subsequently an expert opinion,” the Education Minister said, as quoted by TASR.
Teachers interested in working at Slovak schools
In this regard, there should be a new ordinance from the workshop of the Health Ministry, already being created, according to Minister Gröhling.
“I assume that next week we will be able to employ teachers from Ukraine and who want to enter our educational system,” he said, as quoted by TASR.
The ministry currently knows about 11 Ukrainians interested in teaching at Slovak schools. The headmasters at the schools the candidates are applying at will decide what they will teach. The Minister said that there are no requirements that Ukrainian teachers are supposed to teach Ukrainian children.
