European Policy on Educational Integration of Ukrainian Children with Migrant Background: the Case of the Republic of Cyprus

Abstract

The article focuses on the policy of the Republic of Cyprus regarding the integration of Ukrainian children in the country’s schools, the author emphasizes that it complies with the international recommendations. In the framework of the education support policy, the terms “children with migration background” or “students with migration background” are used to denote the children who have experienced immigration themselves or have parents who are immigrants.
The Republic of Cyprus belongs to the European countries where school attendance is mandatory for all children with any residency status. However, they make an exception for the Ukrainians who can: 1) study under the Cypriot educational program if they can speak Greek; 2) attend schools that offer a program for children with a migration background; 3) study remotely according to the Ukrainian educational program under the conditions of compliance with reporting procedures. The paper identifies the main tasks of the educational system of Cyprus. They are: to create comfortable learning environment for children from Ukraine at school; help them get rid of the psychological trauma of the war; form a feeling that they themselves, their knowledge, skills and cultural origin have value and are valued, because not knowing Greek is not an obstacle to demonstrating the level of knowledge of students. In schools, they have introduced the position of a teacher for pupils with a migration background, who gives additional classes of Greek and helps with homework. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth of the Republic of Cyprus provides document flow in the Ukrainian and the Greek languages for the processes of streamlining the integration of schoolchildren from Ukraine, informs about educational opportunities of the state, including the free study of the Greek language for citizens of Ukraine.
The main problems that impede the increase in school study by children moved from Ukraine are: frequent cross-border movements, problems with admission potential, language barriers, lack of teachers, uncertainty about recognizing study periods abroad, preferences of families to maintain ties with Ukraine or their intentions to return home, lack of information or misinformation about educational systems in host countries, difficulty in monitoring outflow during the school year.
The study demonstrates that the policy of the Republic of Cyprus on the education of children with a migration background is being implemented and improved in various directions, such as: harmonization of organizational and graduation processes; support of teachers, school principals, inspectors; autonomy and responsibility of schools; formation and updating of the current policy; diversity and anti-racism training practices through learning and other activities.