World Refugee Day 2023 – Khrystyna’s story

When little Khrystyna Kyrylishyna left her home in Irpin in the Kyiv region of Ukraine in March last year she had yet to start school.

The then 4-year-old fled with her mother Yuliia when the shells started falling close by.

Leaving behind her father Denys, who is an officer of the armed forces, the pair travelled first to Poland where they stayed for three weeks before making their way to Ireland and safety.

Just over a year later, Khrystyna, who turned 6 last month, has not only completed her first year at the Teresian School in Donnybrook but has so embraced, and thrived in learning English, she won a special prize in the recent KPMG nationwide Reading Hero Awards designed to promote literacy and instil a joy of reading in children.

“We were so delighted for Khrystyna here at the school,” says her teacher, Triona Melican, who entered her into the competition which attracted thousands of entries nationwide, because of her excellent progress in reading.

“All of Khrystyna’s classmates went along to support her when she collected her prize at a ceremony in Merrion Square recently.”

Ireland has one of the highest school enrolment rates for displaced Ukrainian children in the European Union, with latest figures showing over 15,000 pupils, around 90 percent of Ukrainian refugee children here, currently enrolled in Irish schools, almost 10,000 of those at primary level.

The theme for this year’s World Refugee Day is ‘hope away from home’.

“It is important to remember that education for all refugee children is a fundamental human right,” says Paul O’Brien, CEO for Plan International Ireland, the leading developmental and humanitarian organisation championing girls’ rights and education.

“Access to face-to-face education in times of displacement can be both lifesaving and life-sustaining – it also important for integration.”

Unfortunately, back in Ukraine, face-to-face learning has become nearly impossible, with more than 3,000 schools and other educational institutions having suffered bombing and shelling, disrupting the education of millions of children and young people as a result.

Plan International is working with partners in Ukraine to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools and shelters, including by providing heating appliances and generators, to ensure children affected by the war have access to safe, inclusive and quality education.

“My husband and I are infinitely grateful for the opportunity to educate our daughter in Ireland,” says Yuliia.

“Khrystyna did not understand any English before she started studying at Teresian School, but she achieved incredible results in just a year and now understands the interlocutor and can express herself well, which is amazing as it opens the door of communication for our child.”

As for Khrystyna, she is very happy to be in school too.

“Triona is the best teacher. I love her,” she says.

Visit www.plan.ie for more information.

World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on June 20 by the United Nations.

It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world.

The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.