People are leaving in droves again. It’s quite difficult to find up-to-date government statistics on this issue, but I have my own. A school is a kind of litmus test for society, and I see trends through the prism of my clients’ behavior.
Like other online schools, we saw a significant increase in demand in 2022. In 2023, especially at the beginning, people believed that a counteroffensive was coming, and the war would end. Many clients reported that they would be returning to Ukraine, and those who had not left postponed their decision to study until the last minute. A sharp rise in those wishing to study remotely occurred only at the end of August — beginning of September, when it became clear that the war would last a long time.
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What I’m getting at is this: In the last couple of months, we’ve been observing an ANOMALOUS number of inquiries that begin with the words “…we have left (are leaving) abroad and want to finish our studies remotely.” And the number of such inquiries is only growing. If earlier we saw the largest percentage of such inquiries from the parents of boys, grades 10-11, because their parents were trying to get them out before they turned 18 (there are still many of them now), today we are talking about all children, regardless of age or gender. And this is very alarming. It feels like the trend to leave has started with renewed vigor.
This trend continues. Children who left a year or two ago are ceasing to acquire a Ukrainian education. At the very beginning, they studied in parallel, or, if the law allowed, exclusively with us. Then they only remained on the Ukrainian component. Now they refuse altogether. The motivation is very simple: “We decided that we are staying here FOREVER. And we don’t need a Ukrainian education.”
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But that’s not all. Among 11th-grade students, there are increasingly more children who will NOT WRITE the NMT. They do not plan to enter Ukrainian universities. Not only boys but also girls. In some classes, 90% of such children. Conventionally, 27 out of 30 will leave. Most likely forever. But this is not a story about parents sending their children to the best universities for a great education. No. They enter anywhere, any university, the main thing is not in Ukraine.
This is my own demographic statistic. While we are talking about educational losses and the quality of education, completely different losses are taking place. And if this trend continues to gain momentum, there will simply be no one to teach. And there are no easy solutions here. After all, studying in another country is not about the quality of education today. No. It’s about something else. About realizing one’s prospects. About parents’ choices. About trying to avoid mobilization for the father and son in the future. We hear these phrases with our own ears. Ultimately, it’s about the mood in society. After all, we know that motivation depends not even on what is today. But on what tomorrow will bring us.
There will be no conclusions. Let everyone draw their own.
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