Education minister pledges further help to Ukrainian refugees

Brussels – Slovenian Education Minister Simona Kustec reiterated her condemnation of Russian aggression at a session of EU education ministers in Brussels on Tuesday as she called for support for Ukrainian students, researchers and teachers at all levels of education, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport said in a statement.

The ministers were addressed by their Ukrainian counterpart Serhiy Shkarlet, who presented the situation in Ukraine and asked EU countries and the European Commission for help, which the EU ministers unanimously pledged to provide.

Kustec told the ministers that Slovenia had enabled Ukrainian schoolchildren and teachers to immediately integrate into the educational process.

“More than 350 pupils have already enrolled in our schools,” she said adding that the number was increasing on a daily basis.

While fully committing to help Ukraine, she stressed the importance of effective cooperation at European level.

“With enhanced governance, for the first time written and adopted during the Slovenian EU presidency, we are well placed to respond adequately.”

She thanked the French EU presidency for intensive coordination and Commissioner Mariya Gabriel for all reactions, flexibility and solidarity in the light of helping schoolchildren and researchers who have fled Ukraine.

The minister highlighted the options they have as part of the Erasmus+ programme, School Education Gateway and the announced Marie Curie fellowships for researchers.

The ministers also adopted a package of measures to enable more effective higher education integration at EU level.

The afternoon session meanwhile focuses on the youth, more specifically on ways of encouraging mobility of volunteers, a topic gaining traction with the war in Ukraine.

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