Under a new action plan for Ukrainian refugees, Flemish schools will receive extra support for receiving students from Ukraine.
Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts, the Flemish MPs Koen Daniels, Loes Vandromme and Jean-Jacques De Gucht and the broad educational field agreed on Thursday to submit an emergency decree in the Flemish Parliament to this end.
Schools will be able to count on extra means and extra possibilities to welcome pupils from the war-torn country, and concrete pedagogical tools for schools will be provided.
“With this action plan, the submitters of the Emergency Decree want to guide the schools step by step with concrete information and support,” reads a statement from Weyts’ office.
Working with Ukrainian Ministry of Education to avoid lost progress
Some of the focuses include Dutch-language acquisition, and ensuring Ukrainian students’ Ukrainian learning goals are pursued while in Flanders, supported by an online platform of the Ukrainian Ministry of Education.
Schools will receive extra resources for extra pupils in an accelerated manner until the end of the school year.
The extra funding is applied retroactively beginning 4 March, lasting until at least 30 June. Schools do not have to wait for a service letter, and can immediately begin using the extra funding in their operating budget.
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In special primary and secondary education, extra hours of paramedical, medical, social, psychological and remedial staff are provided.
Nursery schools, too, can count on extra financial support: for each foreign-language newcomer younger than 5 years old, a school is entitled to an additional €950.
There are also measures in place to address overcrowding (including quotes for adding modular units to school grounds) and teacher shortages (extra funding for recruitment and support staff).
