‘Why should I study Russian?’ Ukraine lobbies UK to introduce Ukrainian GCSE
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About 34,000 Ukrainian children have fled to UK since Russian invasion – yet are unable to study their mother tongue. Ukraine is lobbying the UK government to give teenage refugees who fled the war-torn country the chance to study a GCSE in Ukrainian, amid reports they are instead being pressed to study Russian.
Ukraine’s education ministry has written to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, to say it is “crucial” to reintroduce a GCSE in Ukrainian. The letter, seen by the Guardian, said: “We are deeply concerned that due to the lack of Ukrainian GCSE, many Ukrainian children are being pressured by their school staff to pass the Russian GCSE.”.
Thousands of Ukrainians in the UK have signed a petition calling for a Ukrainian GCSE as a matter of urgency. They argue the language is crucial for Ukraine’s independence and identity, and for the future of vulnerable young refugees in the UK. The Department for Education (DfE), which is responsible for policy-making regarding education in England, has agreed to meet education officials from Kyiv to discuss the issue, but insisted that any decision about reintroducing a GCSE in Ukrainian was a matter for exam bodies.
GCSEs in Ukrainian were scrapped in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1995 due to a lack of demand. But since then there has been an influx of about 34,000 Ukrainian children to the UK, most of whom have fled with their families since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
