Over 18,000 Ukrainian pupils are now enrolled in Irish schools nationwide as of the start of February, according to new figures from the Department of Education.
Of the 18,155 Ukrainian students now in Irish schools in total, 11,288 are in primary schools, while 6,867 are in post-primary schools.
This data indicates that 89.7% of Ukrainian children aged 5 to 18 are enrolled in school.
In a statement, the Department thanked school communities for “accommodating” so many Ukrainian pupils.
“The department wishes to thank school communities and stakeholders at a local and national level across Ireland for their engagement, collaboration and support in accommodating Ukrainian pupils in Irish primary and post-primary schools,” the statement read.
The Department went on to say that specialised regional teams continued to operate to help Ukrainian students and families integrate into the school system.
“To assist with the transition of Ukrainian students and their families into Irish schools, Regional Education and Language Teams (REALT) continue to operate,” they said.
“These are hosted by the 16 regional education and training boards around Ireland and staffed by regionally-based education support personnel.
“These teams continue to make sure that clear, accessible information flows are in place between schools, local education support services and national support structures in relation to people arriving from Ukraine.
“Information for parents in Ukrainian and Russian on accessing school places is available on gov.ie/ukraine.”
The news comes just a week after the Irish Times reported that in some parts of the country there are no secondary school places for some first years, with some pupils potentially being forced to stay home and avail of home tutoring for the coming academic year due to what some are calling a “crisis.”
Parents in part of Kildare, Wicklow, Dublin, Galway and Cork have been unable to secure first-year secondary school places in their local areas in advance of the coming academic year.https://t.co/tJ9IyK8j6c
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) February 6, 2024
Speaking to Pat Kenny last week on Newstalk, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said that a “staggering” number of children will be without a place in secondary school next year, and that this “should be predictable” years in advance.
A “staggering” number of children will be without a place in secondary school next year – @WhitmoreJen on #PKNT https://t.co/rmgu6z1aPe
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) February 6, 2024
“That’s probably the most frustrating aspect of this,” she said.
“All the department would need to do is look at the numbers in fifth and sixth class to identify the number of places needed and make sure they are accommodated the following year. It should be predictable…”