Today, we are witnessing an alarming phenomenon: more and more Ukrainian schoolchildren are seeking to leave their homeland and continue their studies abroad. This is not just an emigration wave, but a symptom of deep problems in the education system that threaten to create a ‘lost generation’. While officials from the Ministry of Education and Science convince the public of the ‘progressiveness’ of their reforms, Ukrainian schoolchildren are packing their bags en masse, preparing to go abroad to study. Behind each of these stories is fear for the future, frustration with the national education system, and a clear understanding that their dreams may remain just that, dreams.
The bureaucratic ‘improvements’ of the Ministry of Education and Science that ignore the real needs of young people, together with the lack of stability and prospects in the country, create the preconditions for the formation of a ‘lost generation’ that chooses other countries for its development. What are the reasons behind the massive outflow of children and how does this threaten Ukraine?
Alarming figures
The war has dramatically changed the lives of Ukrainians, including children and young people. Constant anxiety over security, interruptions in the educational process due to air raids and missile attacks are forcing families to look for a more stable environment for their children. Many European countries provide opportunities to continue education in a safe environment, offering various benefits or even free educational programmes.
While in Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science only makes loud statements about progressive reforms, the reality is quite different. Instead of taking into account the educational needs of all participants in the educational process, the Ministry of Education and Science is implementing changes that have nothing to do with the real needs of young people. In particular, the irrational introduction of digital technologies, without proper teacher training, has only complicated the learning process. The lack of flexibility in teaching approaches also increases the sense of confusion among young people who want to study relevant programmes rather than learn theory that has little application in real life.
According to the study ‘War and Education. Two years of full-scale invasion’ conducted by the International Charitable Foundation savED in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science in early 2024, it was found that 26% of students want to continue their studies abroad. Moreover, the desire to study abroad is more pronounced in cities (31%) than in rural areas (16%).
And while the Ministry of Education and Science reports that 335,000 students continue to study in Ukrainian schools while abroad, the quality of such education remains questionable. Yes, of course, the state has offered students abroad a distance learning programme based on Ukrainian schools. However, what we have in practice is that children are left alone with all the difficulties of various subjects, and their parents are either forced to stay at home with their children to help them with their studies or look for tutors. Of course, both options hit hard on the family budget, which is already meagre in the context of living in another country. In addition, as parents complain in private, there is no communication at all between their children and their teachers and Ukrainian classmates. It all boils down to giving them a test task once a quarter. In other words, you go abroad and study as you know. Why not create conditions for the cohesion of all schoolchildren, regardless of their place of residence? Why does the state not care about children wanting to come home?
According to the study ‘Opinions of Teachers, School Heads, Educational Experts, Students and Their Parents on the Quality of Education’ commissioned by the State Service for the Quality of Education, parents (56%) and children (69%) focus on the professional level of teachers when choosing a school. But there is a wake-up call in the education system. Caught in the grip of paperwork, exorbitant demands, the burden of responsibility and low salaries, teachers are leaving the profession in droves. In the capital alone, there are currently 1,371 vacancies. In villages, the situation is much more complicated and there is a catastrophic shortage of teachers. There, one teacher is forced to teach not only his or her own subject, but also those in which he or she is not an expert. Of course, this can’t help but affect the quality of education, especially in the context of distance learning, when not all children have stable access to the Internet due to constant shelling.
The results of the study show that students constantly face the following problems when studying remotely
- Some subjects are not as good as others – 44% of respondents;
- there are too many subjects – 41% of respondents;
- some teachers do not teach clearly – 21% of respondents;
- lack of equipment – 17% of respondents.
By September 2025, the school network should be optimised, reducing the number of academic lyceums from 8,000 to 2,000. According to the Ministry of Education and Science, this decision is due to the need to create specialised institutions for grades 10-12, as well as to adapt Ukrainian education to European standards and improve the quality of educational services in such lyceums. According to the new requirements, academic lyceums must meet the following parameters
- have at least four classes in parallel, with up to 100 students in each class;
- operate separately from primary and basic schools;
- offer three specialised profiles (language and literature, social sciences and humanities, or STEAM).
In this case, the question arises as to how exactly specialised profiles will be offered without proper teaching staff and, most importantly, for whom? Doesn’t the Ministry of Education and Science notice how the number of students in Ukrainian schools has significantly decreased?
Ukraine still lacks verified data on the number of Ukrainian citizens, including children living abroad. According to the latest data, 831,431 Ukrainian students were integrated into EU schools between 24 February 2022 and 12 December 2023. But the real numbers could be much higher. After all, there are also students who study remotely from abroad only in a Ukrainian school and have not been integrated into the EU school system, so they are not included in these statistics, as they are not required to attend the school of the host country.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of October 2024, the number of Ukrainian schoolchildren abroad was as follows
- in Ireland – 97% ;
- in Romania – 83%;
- in France – 69%;
- in Germany and Austria – 63%;
- in Moldova – 8%;
- in Croatia – 16%;
- In the UK – 17%.
In general, the number of young people (people aged 14 to 35) in Ukrainian society has decreased significantly from around 10 million in 2022 to around 7 million as of 2024. According to forecasts, the number of young people in Ukraine could drop to 5 million in 2030.
Ukrainian schoolchildren have long been guided by global educational standards. They seek flexibility, creativity, individual approach, and opportunities to develop critical thinking and innovation. Instead, the national education system continues to impose standards that do not meet either modern labour markets or global challenges. In this context, studying abroad becomes not just an alternative, but a necessity for those who want to succeed in the future. High school students who leave Ukraine mostly do not return. This means that EU countries and other developed countries receive ready-made young professionals, whom Ukraine has spent resources on educating.
What is the Ministry of Education and Science doing? Does it continue to assure us that we are getting closer to European standards and nurture the hope that Ukrainian students will return home after studying abroad as soon as the war is over? However, the outflow of young people abroad was observed even before the full-scale invasion, and now it has become even more widespread. Perhaps it’s time to think about it and make effective changes.
Devastating consequences
The massive outflow of talented young people could have catastrophic consequences for the country’s future. After all, it is these students who are supposed to become the new leaders, innovators and drivers of change in Ukraine. The loss of a generation that seeks a quality education abroad and has no plans to return threatens to create a long-term ‘educational crisis’ in the country.
The outflow of young talent exacerbates the problem of a shortage of highly qualified specialists in Ukraine. This will affect all areas of life, from research to the economy. The country risks losing its potential for innovation and development, as those who have been educated abroad often do not plan to return home due to the lack of proper conditions for professional growth.
If the situation does not change, the prestige of Ukrainian schools and universities will continue to decline. Over time, even more families will choose to study abroad for their children. Educational institutions in Ukraine will remain for those who cannot afford to leave, leading to an even deeper split in society.
For middle-income Ukrainians, the main challenges remain high cost of living, low wages, economic instability, unemployment and lack of sufficient state support in the education sector. It is likely that one of the ways to improve access to education could be to attract various forms of support for students, such as increased funding for scholarships, grants, etc. In order to improve access to education in Ukraine, reforms aimed at improving the quality and accessibility of education should be implemented, as well as attracting as much investment as possible in infrastructure development, improving the material and technical base and introducing modern teaching technologies in universities to make Ukrainian education competitive in the international labour market.
Young people who receive education abroad are more likely to stay in the countries where they study, as they have more stable living and working conditions. This will lead to an even greater outflow of intellectual resources from Ukraine, which reduces the country’s chances for innovative development in the future.
The educational reforms of the Ministry of Education and Science are not answers to the challenges of our time, but cosmetic changes that further spoil the educational process. Instead of adapting curricula to the real needs of young people and the labour market, the Ministry of Education and Science is implementing ineffective initiatives. For example, the transition to distance learning without proper technical support and teacher training has created chaos and misunderstanding in the educational process. The lessons of happiness have only shaken the society with their cynicism in the face of war.
In addition, the Ministry does not take into account the key priorities of schoolchildren who want quality education. Children need to learn the latest technologies, languages, and scientific disciplines that correspond to the reality of the 21st century. But instead, the Ministry of Education and Science continues to focus on outdated teaching methods that only repel young people.
Instead of meaningless reforms, the Ministry of Education and Science should change its approach to education. It needs to pay attention to the real needs of students, create programmes that meet modern challenges, provide opportunities for personal development and prepare young people for global competition.
Ukraine needs to invest in the future of its youth, otherwise we risk losing an entire generation that will choose to pursue their dreams elsewhere.
If the situation does not change, Ukraine risks being on the verge of an educational catastrophe. The young generation that chooses to study abroad today may not return tomorrow, leaving the country without its most valuable resource – intelligence and talent. The reforms of the Ministry of Education and Science, which are being implemented without taking into account the real needs of young people, only deepen the crisis, reducing the prestige of Ukrainian education. The massive outflow of schoolchildren abroad is not just a trend, but a signal that the system needs immediate and fundamental changes. If the state does not start investing in the future of its youth now, in the coming years we may lose an entire generation that will no longer associate their lives with Ukraine.
