Written answers

Thursday, 10 March 2022

Department of Education and Skills

Ukrainian War

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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297. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the response of her Department to the Ukrainian war crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13720/22]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. 

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the Government’s position that the continuing Russian military action against Ukraine is illegal and immoral.

The war in Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis and the Government is committed to welcoming people fleeing war in Ukraine and seeking protection in Ireland.

The Government has adopted a whole of government approach to supporting the people who arrive here.

Our schools have a strong tradition of welcoming children of all nationalities and backgrounds and have experience of doing this throughout the school year. As the Deputy will know, we already support a linguistically and culturally diverse community in Ireland.

The Department already provides additional allocations for schools with high concentration of pupils that require language support. 

The NCCA has published a range of resources to support learners with English as an additional language (EAL) across Early Childhood, Primary and Post-Primary. These materials aim to support teachers and early childhood practitioners to nurture the language development of EAL learners.Further guidance about these resources will issue to schools shortly. 

Where children of school going age have already arrived in Ireland with families, and are in accommodation with friends and family, and want to access the school system right away, schools that have capacity locally will welcome these children in the usual way.

The overall position in relation to Ukraine continues to evolve and my Department will be providing guidance to schools shortly which will assist them in dealing with any immediate queries.  It will include information for schools on how to respond if they don’t have capacity in their school, so that we can make accessing a school as easy as possible for these families that have endured so much.

I will be putting in place a helpline for schools and putting information online and on social media for parents in relevant languages to support them in accessing schooling for children.

We are assessing the impact and planning for a range of scenarios in terms of the numbers of children that may arrive in the coming weeks and months.

Where people will be living will have a direct impact on where children will require schooling or access to education supports.

My officials have already spoken to the staff unions and management bodies and work is underway, engaging with other Government Departments, agencies and stakeholders and we are planning for a range of scenarios and we will continue to work in collaboration with all relevant agencies, across government and with the education partners to put in place appropriate responses.

Where temporary crisis measures are put in place, we will assess what education provision is appropriate and possible in those circumstances.

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