European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions

The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist
in the development of better social, employment and
work-related policies

EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level policy measures

Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure EE-2022-9/2320 – Updated – measures in Estonia

Financing the education costs of Ukrainian war refugees

Ukraina sõjapõgenike hariduskulude rahastamine

Country Estonia , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 24 February 2022 – 15 June 2023
Context War in Ukraine
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Measures to prevent social hardship
– Access to childcare and education
Author Ingel Kadarik (Praxis Center for Policy Studies) and Eurofound
Measure added 18 May 2022 (updated 01 April 2023)

Background information

On 17 March 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the reimbursement of expenses for basic, general and vocational education, hobby education and activities and youth work of Ukrainian refugees in 2022. The principles and the distribution of funds will soon be officially approved by a directive of the Minister of Education and Research on the basis of the supplementary state budget approved by the Parliament on 18 May 2022.

Content of measure

The Ministry of Education and Research will allocate additional funds to schools to support the education provision to Ukrainian refugee children. Schools will receive between €353 and €506 per Ukrainian student depending on the level of education. The support can be used for:

  • establishing additional study places and hiring teachers for this or buying teaching aids, technology, etc.
  • additional study of the Estonian language to enable the acquisition of the Estonian language at the basic level
  • educational support services (interpreters, speech therapists, psychologists, etc.)
  • catering in an educational institution
  • provision of hobby activities and/or hobby education and offering youth work
  • educational support services (eg. student transport).

There will be three payments: In June 2022, September 2022 and January 2023 covering altogether the period of 24 February - 31 December 2022.

The total budget foreseen is €70 million.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

24 November 2022

Local governments receive additional financial support for educational activities of Ukrainian children and youth aged 7-26 years. The sum is €165 per person (total of 1.2 million divided between 73 local governments). Local governments can use additional funds to introduce the Estonian language and culture to Ukrainian youth and/or carry out activities based on the youth's own initiative, including non-formal learning opportunities to support language learning and integration.

28 May 2022

The support for education institutions per Ukrainian student is:

  • €465 in early childhood education (total €16.3 million)
  • €506 in general education (total €44.9 million)
  • €353 in vocational education (total €6.2 million).

Additionally, higher education institutions will also receive support in the amount of €5,000 per student (€2.5 million in total).

The total budget is €69.9 million.

Use of measure

At 5 September 2022, the number of Ukrainian children in Estonian education institutions is following:

  • 1,563 in early childhood education
  • 4,158 in general education
  • 179 in vocational education.

The total number of registered students is 5,900.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Other businesses
Students

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
Local / regional government
National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Unknown Unknown
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • Unknown
  • Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No information

Views and reactions

No information.

Sectors and occupations

    • Economic area Sector (NACE level 2)
      P - Education P85 Education

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

  • 01 April 2022: Ukraina sõjapõgenike hariduskulude rahastamise infoleht (Fact sheet on the financing of the education costs of Ukrainian war refugees) (www.hm.ee)
  • 28 May 2022: Lisaeelarve aitab katta sõjapõgenike haridusega seotud kulud ja toetab riigikeeleõpet (The supplementary budget will help cover the costs of education for war refugees and support national language training) (www.hm.ee)
  • 05 September 2022: Ukraina sõjapõgenikud Eesti haridussüsteemis õppeastmeti (Ukrainian war refugees in Estonian education system by level of education) (www.haridussilm.ee)
  • 24 November 2022: The state supports the language learning and integration of Ukrainian war refugees through opportunities in the youth field (www.hm.ee)

Citation

Eurofound (2022), Financing the education costs of Ukrainian war refugees, measure EE-2022-9/2320 (measures in Estonia), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/EE-2022-9_2320.html

Share

Eurofound publications based on EU PolicyWatch

30 January 2023

 

Measures to lessen the impact of the inflation and energy crisis on citizens

Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.

Article

12 September 2022

 

First responses to cushion the impact of inflation on citizens

Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Article

12 September 2022

 

Policies to support EU companies affected by the war in Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.

Article

5 July 2022

 

Policies to support refugees from Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.

Article

Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.