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A Ukrainian student in Saxony writes vocabulary in his German exercise book (symbol image)
Photo:
Waltraud Grubitzsch / dpa
While war is raging in their home country, they have to adjust to everyday German school life: 193,141 children and young people from the Ukraine have been admitted to schools in Germany since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression.
That was 2242 more than in the previous week, as the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) announced.
The federal states report the numbers to the KMK on a weekly basis.
According to this, most students found accommodation in North Rhine-Westphalia (36,558), Bavaria (29,014) and Baden-Württemberg (26,573).
After the summer holidays, the numbers went up again nationwide due to new registrations.
There are a total of around eleven million schoolchildren in Germany.
Teachers' unions complain about staff shortages and space shortages
The admission of the Ukrainian children poses an additional challenge for Germany's school system, which was already suffering from a massive shortage of staff before the war in Ukraine.
The Education and Science Union (GEW) warns that the many Ukrainian children and young people registered in schools and day-care centers lack educational specialists and suitable rooms.
"Currently, school-age children often have to wait months for a place in school or they only receive a limited range of educational opportunities," said Chairwoman Maike Finnern.
»This makes the integration of the children and young people who have fled extremely difficult.«
According to Heinz-Peter Meidinger, President of the German Teachers' Association, the Ukrainians who work or help out in German schools only cover a fraction of the demand.
A survey in the federal states in September showed that around 2,700 teachers and assistants from the Ukraine are currently employed in Germany.
fok/dpa