RIGA, June 4 (LETA) - The support provided by local governments for the integration of Ukrainian children into the Latvian education system depends on the local capacity, Providus researchers have concluded in their study "The Experience of Latvian Local Governments in Welcoming Ukrainian Civilians: from Crisis to Long-term Solutions".

The language barrier is still identified as the main obstacle to the integration of Ukrainian children. Inadequate Latvian language skills hinder learning and limit children's ability to communicate with teachers and peers.

Additional counselling and Latvian language courses are offered in 27 out of 35 municipalities. At the same time, the available resources for language learning are not sufficient, according to the municipalities. In many cases, there is a lack of qualified professionals to run language classes or non-formal education activities.

The psychological readiness of these children to enter the education system also varies, but not all municipalities provide psychological support, the report says. There is a lack of motivation among both children and parents to involve their children in the Latvian education system.

Although funding is allocated to support educational integration and various support measures are implemented, there is a lack of evaluation of their effectiveness. There is no defined target group for this evaluation and the lack of data on integration outcomes makes it difficult to plan targeted support in the future.

It is also unclear how the institutions involved coordinate and monitor the integration of Ukrainian refugees into the education system. Only nine out of 35 municipalities were clear about the level of support under their responsibility, while most municipalities deal with educational integration issues on their own, which can affect the quality of education among municipalities in a context of financial and human resource constraints.

The lack of coordination mechanisms raises doubts about the willingness of the institutions involved to act if, for example, Ukrainian children of compulsory school age were to be compulsorily enrolled in the Latvian education system, the researchers point out.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Education and Science, 3,806 Ukrainian children were registered in Latvian kindergartens and schools in May this year. Meanwhile, 6,130 Ukrainians aged five to 17 were registered in the Register of Physical Persons as of mid-April.

The largest number of Ukrainian children is registered in Riga - 2,324 children, according to information provided by the Ministry of Education and Science as of mid-May. This is followed by Jelgava, Daugavpils, Liepaja, Ventspils, Rezekne, Jurmala, as well as Bauska, Ogre, Kuldiga and Tukums regions, where the number of children is much smaller.

Since 2022, the number of Ukrainian refugee children in the Latvian education system has fluctuated - it increased the most in pre-school and grades 1-9 in 2022-2023, dropped in autumn 2023, and rose again in grades 1-9 in 2024, the report says. Currently, there is a decline in the number of Ukrainian children in schools and an increase in pre-schools.