RETURN, LEARN & RECONNECT

Concept Status

Concept — Seeking Partners

Funding Status

seeking_partners

Why this matters

Children abroad may navigate two education systems at the same time, with different assessment standards, languages and curricula, documentation requirements and uncertainty about a future return. They may also face barriers to the recognition of learning outcomes and to documenting their education.

Changes of school, language of instruction and peer group call for attention to children’s psychological adjustment. The project will also address bullying prevention, a sense of safety and belonging at school, and timely access to a school psychologist when needed.

Why this matters now

Millions of Ukrainian learners have experienced cross-border education, dual curricula, interrupted documentation and uncertain pathways back into Ukrainian schools. A comparative, user-centred recognition and reintegration system can reduce administrative friction while protecting continuity of learning and children’s educational rights.

Recognition of documents and school enrolment should be accompanied by support for psychological adjustment and safe relationships with peers. This calls for coordination between schools, families and psychological support professionals during education abroad and after return.

Primary objective

Create and pilot a cross-border education, documentation and reintegration framework that helps Ukrainian children and families move between host-country and Ukrainian education systems with clearer recognition rules, safer documentation pathways and more predictable return-to-school support.

The framework will include psychological adjustment, bullying prevention and coordinated support for children and families as they join or rejoin a school community.

Specific objectives

• Compare recognition, enrolment and documentation rules across selected European host countries and Ukraine.
• Map the user journey of families balancing host-country schooling, Ukrainian education components and eventual return.
• Co-design model checklists, recognition tools and return-to-school protocols with education authorities, schools and families.
• Pilot a multilingual guidance and case-navigation prototype and measure administrative time, repeat requests and user experience.
• Study children’s psychological adjustment needs when changing education systems and returning, taking account of age, language of instruction and individual needs.
• Work with schools, psychologists, children and parents to develop bullying prevention measures, accessible ways to seek help and response protocols.
• Assess access to psychological support, children’s sense of safety and belonging at school, and their experience after the transition.

Methodology

• Comparative education-law and administrative-policy mapping across selected jurisdictions.
• Desk research using official education rules, recognition guidance and refugee-education data.
• Qualitative interviews and user-journey research with parents, learners, educators and administrators under child-safe protocols.
• Co-design and usability testing of recognition checklists, return protocols and digital navigation content.
• Pilot evaluation using processing-time, continuity, repeat-document-request and user-experience indicators.
• Research on psychological adjustment and the school environment with qualified psychologists; voluntary, confidential feedback from children and families, and evaluation of bullying prevention measures and access to support.

Core Research Question

What legal, educational and digital mechanisms can reduce learning loss, duplicated burden and administrative friction while preserving a child’s connection to Ukrainian education and enabling future return?

Proposed Work Packages

• Comparative recognition rules
• Mapping education pathways abroad
• Document and credential interoperability
• Family guidance
• Reintegration protocols for returning pupils
• Digital case-navigation prototype
• Policy recommendations
• Psychological adjustment, bullying prevention and school–family coordination

Geography

Ukraine, selected Ukrainian communities and cross-border partner settings

Target Groups

Ukrainian children studying abroad
Returning pupils
Children from displaced families and occupied territories
Parents, schools and education authorities

Expected Outputs

• Comparative country matrix
• Recognition toolkit and model checklists
• Return-to-school protocol
• Pilot guidance portal
• Policy briefs
• Practical resources for schools and families on psychological adjustment, bullying prevention and seeking help

Intended Outcomes

• Lower administrative friction in recognition
• Better continuity between host-country and Ukrainian education
• More predictable return-to-school pathways
• Safer adjustment and better access to psychological support during school transitions

Proposed Indicators

• Recognition processing time
• Cases resolved without repeated document requests
• Continuity of the Ukrainian education component
• Successful reintegration into Ukrainian schooling
• Parent and child user experience
• Access to psychological support during transitions
• Children’s sense of safety and belonging at school
• Children’s and parents’ awareness of ways to seek help with bullying

Partners Sought

Education ministries/agencies and universities
Schools and verified Ukrainian education centres abroad
Diaspora education networks
Education foundations and digital-public-service partners

External Expertise Sought

• Education policy
• Comparative education
• Digital public services
• Child rights
• Cross-border administrative law
• Child and school psychology
• Bullying prevention and safe learning environments

Relevant SDGs

4, 10, 16, 17

Implementation architecture

Recommended duration: 24 months

• 12 months: A 12-month research and design phase would map recognition rules and cross-border education pathways, test family guidance with a limited user group, and define the data and legal requirements for a safe digital navigation prototype.
• 24 months: A 24-month standard project would pilot recognition and return-to-school protocols in several jurisdictions, evaluate user experience and administrative time, and produce reusable guidance for schools, families and public authorities.
• 36 months: A 36-month scale scenario would extend the comparative network, add interoperable guidance and training packages, and support institutional uptake across a wider set of host-country and Ukrainian education authorities.

Beneficiaries

Primary beneficiaries

Ukrainian children and young people studying in European host-country systems or combining host-country and Ukrainian learning.
Families planning or considering return and needing reliable recognition, documentation and enrolment guidance.

Secondary beneficiaries

Schools, education authorities and Ukrainian education centres abroad handling recognition and continuity questions.
Universities, ministries, diaspora education networks and digital-public-service actors developing scalable solutions.

Consortium profile

The consortium should combine comparative education and administrative-law research with host-country education partners, Ukrainian authorities or institutions, diaspora/school networks, child-rights expertise and secure digital-service design.

Required consortium roles

Academic coordinator for comparative education, law and policy.
Host-country university or education-policy partners in selected jurisdictions.
Ukrainian education authority, university, school or recognition specialist.
Diaspora education or verified Ukrainian school-network partner.
Child-rights and safeguarding expertise for research involving minors.
Digital public-service/usability partner for the navigation prototype.

Budget logic

Main cost drivers

Comparative legal and education-policy research across several jurisdictions.
Translation, localisation and validation of official recognition guidance.
Family, learner and educator user research with safeguarding controls.
Digital navigation prototype, accessibility and secure hosting/testing.
Pilot implementation and training with schools or education authorities.
Monitoring, evaluation and dissemination to policy and practitioner audiences.

A 12-month budget can remain research-and-prototype heavy; 24 months adds jurisdictional pilots and evaluation; 36 months becomes a multi-country implementation and institutional uptake programme with substantially larger coordination, translation and training costs.

Risks & safeguards

Funding alignment

Funding-framework references indicate thematic fit only. They do not imply eligibility, funding, partnership or endorsement.

• UNESCO — Education for Ukrainian refugee learners in European host countries

  The concept directly addresses evidence gaps and operational barriers identified in UNESCO’s work on Ukrainian refugee learners, including dual education pathways, disability-related inclusion gaps and the need for better data on learning and wellbeing.

• European Union / Erasmus+ — Building resilience and human capital for Ukraine’s European future (2026)

  The project fits the broader Erasmus+ emphasis on learning continuity, inclusion, institutional capacity and human capital for recovery, while any funding route would require matching the concept to an eligible action, partnership structure and call.

Evidence Sources

• Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine — 2026 recognition and education-pathway materials

Evidence sources are cited for context and do not imply partnership or endorsement.