During 2022, Estonian schools received more than 8 000 refugees from Ukraine. The situation was unique in the country's history, and both the schools and newly arrived students have faced great challenges as a result. In order to better understand how children from Ukraine are faring in Estonian schools, a Ukrainian-language student satisfaction questionnaire was created - by the Ministry of Education and Research - specifically for those displaced from Ukraine. In total, the questionnaire was answered by 797 students.

An analysis of the answers, and in particular a comparison with the answers of Estonian children to another student satisfaction questionnaire, gives some insight into such topics as general satisfaction with school, satisfaction with the school environment, teaching, participation in recreational education activities and youth work, general mood, and home environment.

The main findings of the survey are the following:

1. The average school satisfaction scoring among children from Ukraine was 3.7 out of 5. Overall satisfaction was found to be significantly influenced by the age of the student. By contrast, the average score among Estonian children was lower, at 3.3.
2. There was a large difference in overall satisfaction with school depending on the language in which the pupil studied. Those who learn only in Estonian or only in Russian showed significantly lower satisfaction than others.
3. Refugees who had studied in Estonia for a longer period of time were, on average, less satisfied with school than recent arrivals.
4. Refugees' satisfaction with school is not affected by the proportion of classmates who are from other countries nationality or cultural background. The same is true for Estonian children.
5. The overall satisfaction rate of refugee children with specific needs was on average significantly lower than that of pupils without specific needs.
6. Of the war refugees who responded, 76% speak Russian as one of their home languages. Ukrainian is spoken by 67% of respondents. The results of the survey do not show that the satisfaction of students who speak only Ukrainian at home is different from that of students who speak only Russian at home.
7. Fewer than half of respondents felt cared for by their classmates, although 59% felt they got on well with their classmates. Getting along with classmates was found to have a very significant impact on students' overall satisfaction with school.
8. 44% of respondents had experienced bullying at least once in the two weeks prior to the survey, and 26% had experienced physical violence.
9. 64% of refugee children felt that they could cope with the tasks they were given at school. 27% felt that sometimes they could and sometimes they couldn't. The language of instruction had an impact on coping with schoolwork.