Number of schoolchildren in Ukraine has reached lowest level in 30 years - media. INFOGRAPHICS
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, there were 3.74 million students of all forms of education in the Ukrainian education system, the lowest number in 30 years.
This is stated in the material of NGL, Censor.NET reports.
According to journalists, most countries that accept Ukrainians require them to send their children to local schools. But not everyone plans to stay there forever, so they often continue their education in a Ukrainian school.
According to the Ministry of Education, 9.3% of schoolchildren are currently studying abroad, which is about 345,000 children.
"The Ministry of Education takes into account only those students who still remain in the Ukrainian education system. In other words, these 345 thousand students are a minimum estimate, because many children stop studying in Ukrainian schools after going abroad," the publication writes.
A UNESCO study shows that as of 2024, almost 665 thousand Ukrainian schoolchildren studied abroad, but this is only in EU countries, and not all of them where Ukrainians have migrated. Only 29% of these students combine their studies in both countries, and another 16% rely exclusively on Ukrainian online education.
"If we extrapolate this trend to the countries not listed by UNESCO, we can assume that there are about 720 thousand Ukrainian students abroad. Meanwhile, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, approximately 1.4 million internally displaced Ukrainians around the world are children aged 3-17," the authors of the material note.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine provided journalists with statistics on the number of students in grades 8-12 in 2021-2025. The analysis showed that every year 2-4% of students do not move to the next grade and leave school. Probably, some of them leave Ukraine.
Both boys and girls leave the country. In high school, there is a slight advantage of girls (approximately 1-2%) each year, although this difference can reach 10% among graduates.
In 2024, 197 thousand students entered Ukrainian higher education institutions, the lowest number in nine years. In response to this trend, some universities are trying to encourage the return of applicants from abroad, journalists say.
According to the State Statistics Service, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, there were a total of 3.74 million students of all forms of education in the Ukrainian education system. This is the lowest number in the last 30 years.
"The decline in the number of students in Ukraine, if this trend continues, creates new challenges not only for the higher education system but also for the labor market. The shortage of qualified personnel, especially in technical professions, was felt even before the full-scale war, and now, with the outflow of both students and teachers abroad, it may become even worse.
To encourage graduates to apply to Ukrainian universities, the government must work systematically to do so. Families returning to Ukraine should see the prospects of quality education for their children. And although the Ministry of Education simplifies schooling for those living abroad, it does not help much yet," the authors added.
