More than a quarter of Ukrainians in Laois are schoolchildren
More than a quarter of all Ukrainians who have found refuge in Laois from the war waged by Russia are children, according to the latest figures.
New Department of Education figures show that 210 students have enrolled in Laois up to March 1, 2023. There are 127 children in primary schools while another 83 pupils are attending secondary schools in the county.
The figure is slightly higher than in February when there were 2017 children enrolled.
When schools broke up for the Christmas school holiday there were 112 children in primary school with a further 77 students in secondary school.
The latest official figures from the Central Statistics office published on February 24 show that there were 873 people in the county up to February 12 when the latest national count of refugees was completed.
That means that nearly 27% of those who have had to flee Vladimir Putin's invasion are children.
The Department of Education also confirmed that as of 1 March, 14,931 Ukrainian pupils have been enrolled in schools across Ireland. Of this, 9,650 are in primary schools while 5,281 pupils have enrolled in post-primary schools.
To assist with the transition of Ukrainian students and their families into Irish schools Regional Education and Language Teams (REALT) continue to operate, hosted by the 16 regional education and training boards around Ireland and staffed by regionally-based education support personnel.
These teams are ensuring that clear, accessible information flows are in place between schools, local education support services and national support structures in relation to people arriving from Ukraine.
Information for parents in Ukrainian and Russian on accessing school places is available on www.gov.ie/Ukraine