Thousands more Ukrainian pupils expected to enrol in schools here after the Easter break

The Department of Education is preparing for thousands more Ukrainian pupils to enrol in schools across the country after the Easter holidays.

Only about half of the refugee children of school-going age who arrived in Ireland before the break are believed to have enrolled so far.

With about 500 refugees arriving every day, as they settle in, more families are turning their attention to getting their children into the education system.

Currently, about one-third of the Ukrainian people who have come to Ireland since the Russian invasion are children.

While many children turned up in schools within days of their arrival, other families decided to hold off.

Figures are fluid, but the department estimates that at least 6,300 Ukrainian children of school-going age had arrived in Ireland before the Easter break.

With up to 32,000 refugees expected in the country by this weekend, it would bring the number of children up to at least 10,000.

Of the children who arrived before the Easter holidays, about 2,000 enrolled in primary schools and about 1,800 in post-primary.

Other families have delayed school entry as they came to terms with their sudden displacement or waited for a move from emergency accommodation to more medium or long-term accommodation.

The department briefed education partners on the evolving situation this week and told them to expect a surge of enrolments after the break.

Hundreds of schools have welcomed Ukrainian pupils already and so far, about 260 primary schools have been allocated extra teaching hours; in some cases, full-time classroom teachers.

Among the primary schools that have enrolled Ukrainian refugees, the average number is three or four, although in some cases, it is much higher, at 30 or more.

As the department prepares for the next phase of demand, and a need for thousands more places, the big challenge will be finding a match between schools that have capacity and the availability of accommodation in the area.

It is estimated that overall, there are about 25,000 spare places in primary schools nationally – but spare capacity is not necessarily in areas where accommodation is readily available.

The situation at post-primary level is tighter.

Pupil numbers are rising generally in that sector and many schools are oversubscribed and unable to accommodate even existing needs.

The department is still seeking an accurate figure on capacity in the sector and is awaiting details from a survey of schools.

Depending on demand, some schools may need additional accommodation but the department has not spelled out what form this might take.

It has set up 16 regional teams, known as Realt – Regional Education and Language Teams for Ukraine – to assist children in finding school places and to support schools to meet their needs.

Schools can apply for extra teaching resources, for mainstream classes and for English language support but, at post-primary level, the shortage of teachers will present challenges.

Supports for schools in accommodating Ukrainian pupils is expected to be a major topic at next week’s annual teacher conferences.

It’s understood union leaders will press home to the Government the need for resources on a scale to match the demand, particularly if the numbers translate into long-term enrolments.