Two years ago today, Putin launched a barbaric and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

I’m proud that the UK has led the world in supporting Ukraine from day one - we have welcomed 200,000 Ukrainians in need of refuge through one of the biggest and fastest visa schemes in our history.

We’ve provided a safe haven for thousands of women and children, and a major part of our effort has been supporting Ukrainian children and young adults to continue their education in schools and universities around the country.

The role of schools

This would not have been possible without our fantastic teachers and their students who have gone above and beyond to welcome Ukrainian pupils into our schools and colleges.

An example of this is the extraordinary kindness shown by both pupils and staff at Carmel College in Darlington.

The school organised an interpreting programme to help Ukrainian pupils who had joined the school to integrate and as many as 60 pupils stepped up to volunteer.

I cannot praise enough the enormous effort made by schools, colleges, universities, local authorities and wider communities to support Ukrainian families fleeing from their home country.

Education plays such a significant role in helping people integrate into new communities, which is why we invested £170 million to make sure children who arrived in England via the Homes for Ukraine scheme could access the same high-quality education and childcare as UK citizens.

Adapting to children’s needs

I am so proud that since March 2022, schools across England have welcomed over 20,000 children from Ukraine into their communities and continue to support them as they learn to navigate a new culture, while fearing for all they left behind.

The Ukrainian education system is very different to ours, so ensuring children were educated at the right level for their ability was a challenge for schools. I know that they have met that challenge, and our schools are doing a brilliant job to support these children, who are coming to terms with the trauma of fleeing war.

To support schools in overcoming the language barriers some children faced, Oak National Academy, which offers free teaching resources, rolled out an auto-translate function across all 10,000 of its online lessons.

At university, our twinning programme, which brings together our brilliant universities and those in Ukraine, meant students displaced by war could continue their studies remotely or on UK campuses, maintaining access to learning resources and research equipment.

Building for the future

I recently met with Ukrainian education minister Dr Yevhen Kudriavets to discuss the progress of our Ukrainian students and how we can work together to rebuild their country.

I am enormously grateful to everyone who continues to go above and beyond to help refugee children and young people overcome the challenges they face. 

But above all, I am humbled by the Ukrainian young people themselves.

I’ve met so many amazing families in my own constituency and beyond who’ve been uprooted to a foreign country away from their friends and loved ones - and still are so positive and determined in the face of such trying circumstances.

As a government, our commitment to Ukraine and its people remains stronger than ever. We will see that Ukraine not only wins the war, but emerges from it as a strong, sovereign, and free country.

Gillian Keegan is the education secretary