Belgium registers over 30,000 Ukrainian refugees

The European Commission has made an announcement that so far, around 30,000 refugees from Ukraine have registered with the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) in Belgium.

The Commission, in a statement issued on May 13, noted that more than 40 per cent of those refugees are minors, and another 37 per cent are of school age.

The statement added, “To ensure the integration of these children into the education system, a number of measures are being taken across the country.”

Additionally, the Flemish Minister of Education, Ben Weyts, said that the Flanders have the necessary means to quickly provide mobile units and, at the same time, to increase the capacity of schools to accommodate the children of newly arrived refugees from Ukraine.

Minister Weyts further noted out that, “The OKAN system (reception level education for non-native children) exists to facilitate the school integration of these children, and the Pupil Guidance Centre provides them with psychological support.”

As per Weyts, to overcome the shortage of teachers for these children, Ukrainians already living in Flanders and speaking Dutch should be employed.

At the same time, the Flemish government is providing additional resources for the schools that host these refugee children, thus covering the cost of each temporary module created to promote and support their learning.

Flanders is presently cooperating with the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to provide a successful education in the Ukrainian language for refugees.