For people with visual impairments
Supreme Audit Institutions of Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia decided to conduct an international coordinated audit on ensuring the right to education of Ukrainian children in European schools. The approaches to conducting the audit and its main tasks were discussed by the representatives of the mentioned SAIs on July 30-31 in Rzeszow (Poland).
The meeting was held at the invitation of the President of the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland Marian Banas. The delegation of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine was headed at the meeting by the Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber Olha Pishchanska.
The Vice-President of the the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland Jacek Kozłowski, the Vice-President of the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic Jan Málek, the Director of the regional branch of the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic in Prešov Jana Tischlerová and others.
The Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber, Olha Pishchanska, emphasized that for Ukraine, the issue of the well-being of Ukrainian children abroad is one of the priorities. She noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation, more than 2 million children from Ukraine have left the country. According to the data of the educational ombudsman of Ukraine, about 800,000 children were integrated into the EU school system in 2022-2023. However, there is no accurate data on how many children are unable to learn.
“The issue of strategic importance is for families who left the country because of the war to maintain ties with Ukraine, to return after our victory, and for Ukrainian children to integrate into their native society without difficulty. The only way to maintain a permanent connection with these children now is to guarantee them quality and permanent access to the Ukrainian education system, which would maintain their national identity at the proper level. It is also important to understand how many Ukrainian children have and how many do not have access to education abroad, how high-quality and effective this education is. We have to promote the involvement of those who do not study, and also establish whether they face difficulties,” emphasized Olha Pishchanska.
During the meeting, the participants discussed possible audit approaches and got to know about existing case studies of supreme audit institution. In particular, in 2023, the SAI of Poland conducted an audit related to the education of foreign children in Polish schools. It was then that gaps in the registration of children who are in Poland, but are not studying, were discovered.
In general, as part of the planned control measures, the auditors of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will examine the process of ensuring access to education for Ukrainian children in their countries. At the same time, the Accounting Chamber will analyze whether the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine gave these children the opportunity to continue their education online in Ukrainian schools. The readiness of the Ukrainian education system for the return of children to their homeland will also be investigated.
At the end of the meeting, the leaders of SAIs agreed on the establishment of a coordination working group headed by representatives of Poland.
Also, as part of a working visit to Poland, the Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber, Olha Pishchanska, met with Acting Director of the Regional Branch of the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland in Rzeszów, Stefan Gados, visited the Rzeszów City Hall and discussed the role of the city as a humanitarian hub with the Mayor – Konrad Fijołek.
Reference:
According to Eurostat, as of October 31, 2023, 4.24 million citizens of Ukraine received temporary protection in the countries of the European Union. Almost a third of them are children.
According to the information of the wife of the President of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and the educational ombudsman of Ukraine, more than 2 million Ukrainian children have left our country. The educational ombudsman also notes that by the end of 2023, about 800,000 Ukrainian students studied in schools in EU countries.
According to the human rights ombudsman, about 400,000 schoolchildren in 2023 continued to study in Ukrainian schools while staying outside of Ukraine. At the same time, there is no accurate data on whether all Ukrainian children have access to free education abroad.
