Poland has provided Ukrainian refugee children who arrived after the outbreak of the full-scale war with Russia with the legal, organisational, and financial frameworks necessary to exercise their right to education. The minister responsible for education diligently supervised the Regional Education Superintendents, who properly exercised pedagogical oversight to ensure access to education for Ukrainian refugee students. The audit found that none of the audited schools refused to admit a student from Ukraine.
Ensuring the right to education for refugee children stems, among other things, from Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The implementation of this right, combined with the massive influx of children from Ukraine into the Polish educational system, were among the primary reasons why NIK launched audit activities regarding the realisation of compulsory schooling and compulsory education by Ukrainian children in Poland.
The audit was conducted in parallel with an international audit titled "The Realisation of the Right to Education for Ukrainian Children in Schools Across European Countries," which was coordinated by the Supreme Audit Office of Poland. The objective of the audit was to verify whether the right to education for Ukrainian refugee children is being properly realised in host countries, specifically in schools across Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hesse (a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany), as well as through distance learning in Ukraine.
The audit covered the activities of the Ministry of National Education, selected Regional Educational Superintendent's Offices, local government units, and schools from 2022 to 2025.
Growing number of Ukrainian students in the Polish education system
Before the outbreak of the full-scale war, according to data from the Education Information System, as of 30 September 2021, nearly 73,000 students from Ukraine were studying in Polish schools. Following Russia's aggression, this number rose sharply. According to the Ministry of National Education, by the end of September 2022, there were already over 152,000 Ukrainian children and youth in the Polish education system, and over 146,800 a year later.
Following the introduction of mandatory education for students from Ukraine on 1 September 2024, 160,200 students were fulfilling compulsory schooling or education, representing an increase of over 9% compared to 2023. In subsequent years, Ukrainian students accounted for 3.9%, 3.6%, and 3.8% of all students in Poland, respectively.
Ukrainian Refugee Students in Over Half of Polish Schools
The Supreme Audit Office of Poland positively assessed the actions of the minister responsible for education and upbringing in terms of providing the legal, organisational, and financial conditions for Ukrainian children to realise their right to education following the outbreak of the war. The minister systematically cooperated with the Ukrainian side to ensure the right to education for children arriving from Ukraine. Following the introduction of compulsory schooling on 1 September 2024, the minister established a Team for the Educational Integration of Children Who Are Citizens of Ukraine, which, among other initiatives, prompted the development of the "Friendly School" government programme for 2025–2027, aimed at equalising educational opportunities for children and youth from Ukraine.
However, NIK auditors established that the state initially did not possess complete and consistent data regarding the number of Ukrainian children realising compulsory schooling and education remotely within the Ukrainian educational system. A significant change occurred after 1 September 2024, when Ukrainian children were required to realise compulsory schooling and education within the Polish education system. At the same time, the entitlement to the "800+" child benefit was linked to the realisation of compulsory schooling and education.
According to data presented in the audit findings, following the introduction of these measures, the number of Ukrainian students in Polish schools increased by approximately 13,000. Restricting the payment of the "800+" child benefit to individuals who did not meet the statutory conditions led to a reduction in state expenditures by over PLN 101 million.
Funding for the Education of Students from Ukraine
Local government units received funds from the Aid Fund to implement additional educational tasks related to the education of children from Ukraine. Total expenditures on the education of Ukrainian children from 2022 to 31 March 2025 amounted to over PLN 7.8 billion. This amount, calculated and transferred to local government units between 2022 and 2025 (up to 31 March), included expenditures on additional educational tasks related to the schooling of Ukrainian students. The highest amount of funds was spent in 2023 and 2024 – over PLN 2.6 billion in each of those years.
Between 2022 and 2024, the government provided material assistance to Ukrainian refugee children and youth through school scholarships and school allowances. Authorities also allocated funds for the purchase of textbooks, educational materials, and exercise materials for primary school students. All local governments covered by the audit organised transportation for Ukrainian refugee students to their schools.
Language, Psychological, and Organisational Support in Schools
In response to the needs arising from the influx of people from Ukraine, a range of solutions was introduced to quickly integrate children and youth into education. These measures included allowing the establishment of preparatory classes for Ukrainian students in schools, organising additional free Polish language classes, and increasing student capacity limits in classrooms. To integrate these students into the school environment, schools provided them with support from individuals fluent in the Ukrainian language and intercultural assistants. Furthermore, schools organised additional psychological and pedagogical support, integration activities, and initiatives helping students with a migration background adapt. Not a single instance of a school refusing admission to a refugee student from Ukraine was found in any of the audited institutions.
Organisational Problems
At the same time, the NIK audit revealed that institutions realising the right to education for children from Ukraine in Polish schools faced organisational challenges. Some of the audited schools failed to follow the proper procedures for qualifying Ukrainian students into school classes. They also mismanaged additional Polish language classes by failing to maintain the required weekly number of hours, and failed to properly organise education in preparatory classes.
Conclusions
In NIK’s opinion, it is necessary to further improve the mechanisms used by the Minister of National Education to monitor the realisation of compulsory schooling and education of Ukrainian refugee students, as well as their educational needs regarding psychological-pedagogical assistance and Polish language teaching.
Furthermore, the Supreme Audit Office of Poland points out that the dynamic increase in the number of Ukrainian students in Polish schools requires both local governments and headteachers to support teachers in their professional development for working with foreign students. In light of the above, NIK requests headteachers and governing authorities to:
- support teachers by organising internal school meetings and training sessions dedicated to the issues faced by foreign students,
- refer teachers to training programmes in teaching Polish as a foreign language.
