Integration of Ukrainian Preschool and School-Age Children into Educational Environment of Slovakia

The article examines the issue of integrating Ukrainian children and students into the educational environment of Slovakia. A wide range of tools and resources are used to facilitate this process. It has been established that the integration requires significant linguistic, educational, social, and psychological support from teachers and pedagogical staff. Purpose. The article aims to highlight the results of a national assessment of the effectiveness of integrating Ukrainian school-age children into Slovakia’s socio-educational environment, identify the problems and needs of the educational process participants, and provide relevant recommendations. Methods. The study employed general scientific (analysis, generalization, and systematization) and special (descriptive and mathematical statistics) research methods. Results. The article presents the main results of the experiment “Supporting Ukrainian Refugees in Education” conducted in Slovakia in 2022-2023 with the assistance of the National Institute of Education and Youth, in cooperation with the Government, the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic, and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Responses from teachers, Ukrainian parents, and students were summarized. The necessity of using digital tools for linguistic, educational, and socio-psychological support in the integration process is substantiated. Conclusion. Slovak society faces the challenge of accelerating the integration of Ukrainian children, pupils, and students. Recommendations for integrating Ukrainian refugee students at state, regional, and educational institution levels are proposed for use in the preparation of state policies and strategies in teacher training in both Slovakia and Ukraine. The research was funded by the EU Next Generation EU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under project № 09I03-03-V01-00058.