Language support for Ukrainian refugee children in the Netherlands: What do parents and children think?

Abstract

The Netherlands has recently hosted around 98,000 Ukrainian refugees, including ca. 20,000 school-aged children. These children face important challenges in pursuing their studies in Dutch without being proficient Dutch speakers. This article investigates whether Ukrainian pupils received sufficient support in their native language and how children and parents experienced language support across different school types. The results revealed that pupils in language schools for newcomers received more support in their mother tongue, from both teachers and peers, compared to refugee children attending mainstream schools. At the same time, children in language schools had more limited contact with Dutch. Overall, both children and their parents reported positive attitudes towards language support in the Netherlands, but they expressed a wish for more support in the children’s home language(s), both for learning Dutch and for dealing with other school subjects.