metadata: authors: 0: author: Carlana,Michela
1: author: Castaing,Pauline
2: author: Testaverde,Mauro
3: author: Tiberti,Marco
count: Ukraine,Italy,World
docna: 0: docna: Displaced Learners : Early Integration of
            Ukrainian Refugee Students into Italy’s Schools
docty: Policy Research Working Paper
abstracts: cdata!: The paper examines the early integration
            of Ukrainian refugee students into Italy's education
            system following the Russia&#x2019;s invasion of Ukraine
            in 2022. Using administrative and survey data, the study
            presents enrollment trends, academic performance, and
            barriers to educational integration. Findings from the
            analysis indicate that Ukrainian refugees face lower
            enrollment rates, higher absenteeism, and lower test scores
            than other students, particularly in subjects requiring
            language proficiency. Despite these challenges, teachers
            often recommend Ukrainian refugee students for advanced
            educational tracks, thus revealing their optimism about the
            potential of these students. Language barriers, mental
            health challenges, and uncertain futures are identified as
            major obstacles to integration. The study highlights the
            importance of tailored interventions, such as psychological
            support and more dedicated teaching time, to foster refugee
            students' academic and social inclusion.
display_title: Displaced Learners : Early
            Integration of Ukrainian Refugee Students into Italy’s Schools
listing_relative_url: /research/2025/02/34452837/displaced-learners-early-integration-ukrainian-refugee-students-italy’s-schools
topicv3: Forced Displacement m1326032 740,Education m1327048 470,Refugee Resettlement m1505718 2665
publishtoextweb_dt: 2025-02-04T00:00:00Z
dois: 10.1596/1813-9450-11055
origu: Off of Sr VP Dev Econ/Chief Econ (DECVP)
no_of_pages: 40
author_keys: 0: author_key: NA
1: author_key: 2130345
2: author_key: 1203434
3: author_key: 1302596
model_extractions: Policy Research Working Paper 11055

# Displaced Learners

Early Integration of Ukrainian Refugee Students into Italy’s Schools _Michela Carlana Pauline Castaing Mauro Testaverde Marco Tiberti_ Development Data Group & Social Protection and Labor Global Department February 2025
Policy Research Working Paper 11055

# **Abstract**

The paper examines the early integration of Ukrainian refugee students into Italy’s education system following the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Using administrative and survey data, the study presents enrollment trends, academic performance, and barriers to educational integration. Findings from the analysis indicate that Ukrainian refugees face lower enrollment rates, higher absenteeism, and lower test scores than other students, particularly in subjects requiring language proficiency. Despite these challenges, teachers often recommend Ukrainian refugee students for advanced educational tracks, thus revealing their optimism about the potential of these students. Language barriers, mental health challenges, and uncertain futures are identified as major obstacles to integration. The study highlights the importance of tailored interventions, such as psychological support and more dedicated teaching time, to foster refugee students’ academic and social inclusion.

This paper is a product of the Development Data Group, Development Economics and the Social Protection and Labor Global Department. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org/prwp. The authors may be contacted at michela_carlana@hks.harvard.edu; pcastaing@worldbank.org; mtestaverde@worldbank.org; and mtiberti@worldbank.org.

_The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent._ Produced by the Research Support Team
# Displaced Learners: Early Integration of Ukrainian Refugee Students into Italy’s Schools

Michela Carlana*, Pauline Castaing^, Mauro Testaverde^, Marco Tiberti^ JEL codes: I21, 015, R23 Keywords: Education, Forced Migration, Italy, Refugees, Ukraine

- # Harvard Kennedy School and Bocconi University

- ^ World Bank, Development Data Group
million refugees had fled Ukraine, with nearly 6 million seeking refuge in European Union (EU) refugee students in Italy, the fifth largest host country of Ukrainian refugees within the EU, aiming to Research shows that conflict and displacement adversely affect educational outcomes for children,
|justafterthepandemic,whenstudentscouldfinallyreturntoschoolsforin-personlearning,thethe|
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|Thelong-term consequences ofthese trends are significant, as diminished educational outcomesand<br>lower these barriers (Ozden and Wagner, 2020). Further, specific interventions aimed at removing<br>obstacles to education for children on the move can contribute significantly to better integration<br>Thispaperbenefitsfromkeyinformationcomingfromadministrativedataoneducationalrecordsof|
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|Resultshighlightthatdespitegradualimprovements,enrollmentratesremainsignificantlylower|
|---|

proficiency such as Italian and English. However, good performance in mathematics suggests
conflict, this research identifies the specific challenges faced by Ukrainian refugee students, providing European context. Second, this paper identifies the potential critical barriers—language proficiency, performance in mathematics) and challenges (e.g., Italian language proficiency).

background information on the influx of Ukrainian refugees in Italy as well as on the Italian education discusses the findings and explores possible barriers to the integration of Ukrainian refugee students 2.1 Influx of Ukrainian refugee students in Italy The massive influx of Ukrainian students into Italian schools following the invasion of their country, enrolled in Italian schools within the final three months of classes. By May 2022, the Italian education
Education highlights the significant number of unaccompanied minors from Ukraine in Italy since Italy's response to the influx of Ukrainian refugees included a range of initiatives to support swift children to enroll in local schools and recognize Ukrainian qualifications, allowing students and The first cycle of education is mandatory, lasting eight years and divided into primary (from 6 to 11) exams, buta final exam at the end of lower secondary school is needed to move on to the second cycle. The second cycle is divided into two paths: the High Secondary School path, a five-year program the first cycle; and the professional education and training courses, which are three or four-year programs for students who have finished the first cycle. The third cycle comprises higher education, of the first cycle and the first two years of the second cycle. These figures do not include students enrolled in Provincial Centers for Adult Education (CPIAs). CPIAs are primarily intended for adults who have not completed compulsory education or do not hold the final qualification ofthe<sup>first cycleof education.Sixteen-year-oldslacking thisqualification</sup> may<sup>alsoenrollinCPIAs.</sup>
Definitions. In both datasets, students are categorized into five demographic groups based on their defined as Ukrainian students who enrolled in Italian schools after February 2022. In this paper, gender, birth date, birthplace, citizenship. They also include school-specific information such as the
academic year 2022-2023, 0.2% of students enrolled in the Italian school system were Ukrainian refugees (this share slightly decreases from grade 10 and is negligible in grade 13).

_Table 1- Group of students by grade during the academic year 2022-2023 (Source: MoE)_

||**Grade6**|**Grade7**|**Grade8**|**Grade9**|**Grade10**|**Grade11**|**Grade12**|**Grade13**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Ukr post Feb**||||||||||
|**2022**|1,444|1,245|1,263|1,591|896|821|477|275|8,012|
|**Ukr pre Feb**<br>**2022**|1,429|1,670|1,757|1,372|1,273|1,160|995|900|10,556|
|**Migrant post**<br>**Feb 2022**|10,725|8,207|6,871|16,660|9,891|8,859|6,365|4,900|72,478|
|**Migrant pre**<br>**Feb 2022**|53,886|43,939|44,317|43,002|31,905|30,901|27,702|25,195|300,847|
|**Italians**|470,319|495,155|501,083|508,873|484,926|475,036|457,203|486,018|3,878,613|
|**Total**|537,803|550,216|555,291|571,498|528,891|516,777|492,742|517,288|4,270,506|
|_Share of Ukr_<br>_post Feb 2022_<br>_over total_<br>_students_|_0.27%_|_0.23%_|_0.23%_|_0.28%_|_0.17%_|_0.16%_|_0.10%_|_0.06%_|_0.19%_|

Administrative data on enrollment for the academic years 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 are also used to examine the evolution of Ukrainian refugees’ enrollment in Italian schools since February 2022.<sup>10</sup> Figure 1 shows that in 2021-2022, the number of Ukrainian refugees was very low in all grades, with a total of 3,320 Ukrainian refugees that arrived directly after the start of Russia’s invasion of their country. In 2023-2024, the number of Ukrainian refugees enrolled increases in all grades with the exception of Grade 8.<sup>11</sup>

> 10 The distributions of students by grade for academic years 2021-22 and 2023-2024 are shown in Tables B1 and B2 in Appendix B.

> 11 The available data do not allow to estimate the number of refugees enrolled in Grade 6 during the academic year 2023-2024.

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<!-- Start of picture text --> a<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> a<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> a<br><!-- End of picture text --> <mark>a a a</mark> rates are comparable to those of newly arrived foreigners but remain significantly lower than the
as difficulties faced by refugees in engaging with available educational opportunities, their and 3% as non-family legal guardians. Caregivers who fled the situation in Ukraine come from all Given the sampling design and the limited number of observations in the final sample, the survey is not cannot be extrapolated beyond the respondents. However, the number of observations in the final sample the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS, 2020) (0.9%)), although the number of observations is remarkably lower.
erfo a i () 8) ] 1 ic metric specification: indicates the nt’s gender. The model inc ts for grade, specifically comparing Ukrainian refugees to other newly arrived foreign students. This approach a ; iS iS 4.

class influences school achievement in the sample of Ukrainian refugees. The results are presented in Table 5. We then draw on findings from the survey data to unpack and analyze how Ukrainian Ukrainian refugees were enrolled into Italian secondary schools. This figure constitutes 24% of the
June 30, 2022.<sup>15</sup> As such, approximately three in each four Ukrainian refugee students in secondary school age were not enrolled in Italian schools in academic year 2021-22.

In the following years, enrollment rates have shown improvement despite still remaining low. As shown in Figure 1, in academic year 2022-2023 around 32% Ukrainian refugees were enrolled in Italian secondary schools,<sup>16</sup> with the percentage becoming 36% in academic year 2023-24.<sup>17</sup> These numbers remain low compared to the enrollment rates for other foreign students. According to the data from the MoE, the enrollment rate of students with non-Italian citizenship, except for preprimary schools, is close to that of Italians. In particular, in grades 1-8, the enrollment rate is close to 100 percent; in grades 9 to 11, it reaches almost 90 percent; on the other hand, in the last three years of secondary school, corresponding to the start of non-compulsory school years, the enrollment rate of students with non-Italian citizenship decreases to 78 percent compared to 83 percent for Italian students (MoE, 2023).<sup>18</sup> Analysis of MoE data covering academic years 2022-23 through 2023-24 highlights a substantial dropout trend from the Italian school system among displaced Ukrainian learners.<sup>19</sup> Only 58% of Ukrainian refugee students initially enrolled in Grades 6 to 12 during the 2022-23 academic year continued their education within the Italian system the subsequent year, suggesting a 42% drop-out rate.<sup>20</sup> Figure 2 shows that the dropout rate among Ukrainian refugees is more than twice as high as that of other foreigners and six times higher than that of Italian students. These numbers are in line with observations from previous academic years, when the dropout rate of foreigners was three times higher than that of Italians (30.1 percent vs. 9.8 percent) (ISTAT, 2023). No discernible gender or regional disparities are observed in these dropout rates.<sup>21</sup>

> 15 The number of Ukrainian refugees aged 11-18 who requested temporary protection as of June 30, 2022 was elaborated by ISTAT based on data from the Ministry of Interior.

16 This ratio is estimated by dividing the number of refugees enrolled in the Italian system in the academic year 2022-2023 (i.e., 8,012 students) by the number of Ukrainians aged 11-18 who requested temporary protection as of March 31, 2023 (i.e., 25,345 Ukrainian refugees, based on ISTAT elaborations on data from the Ministry of the Interior).

17 This ratio is estimated by dividing the number of refugees enrolled in grades 7 to 13 in the Italian system in the academic year 2023-2024 (i.e., 7,767 students) by the number of Ukrainians aged 12-18 who requested temporary protection as of January 2024 (i.e., 21,742 Ukrainian refugees, based on ISTAT elaborations on data from the Ministry of the Interior). The data on enrollment provided by the Ministry of Education do not cover Grade 6 for academic year 2023-24. Data from the Ministry of Interior on temporary protection does not capture the actual residence and, hence, does not allow to monitor whether bene�iciaries of temporary protection are still in Italy.

18 Data from the MoE does not include students enrolled in the vocational training centers (Centri per la formazione professionale), which are the responsibility of the regions or provinces and whose data on enrollment are therefore not systematically available. These courses are for students who have completed the lower secondary schools, they usually last three years and do not give access to university.

19 It is not possible to derive an accurate dropout rate from the academic year 2021-22 to the academic year 2022-23 since some of the few refugee students who enrolled in the Italian school system were provided with temporary “student IDs” when they arrived in 2021-2022, making them too dif�icult to track across those two academic years.

20 These numbers capture the dropout rate within the Italian school system only. Unfortunately, data does not allow to capture whether the students who dropped out moved and enrolled in school systems in other countries.

21 The dropout rates are 42% in the North, 40% in the Center, and 43% in the South macro-regions. The dropout rate is 42% for both males and females.

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<!-- Start of picture text --> ee<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> en<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> a<br><!-- End of picture text --> This finding may suggest that some Ukrainian refugee absenteeism levels are comparable to those of newly arrived foreigners but significantly higher than
serves not only as an objective gauge of educational integration but also reflects school attachment integration within the host community, offering mental health and well-being benefits to children Total absences of Secondary school (Grades 6-13) <!-- Start of picture text --> S |<br>=<br>|<br>|<br>|<br>$ I<br>nm |<br>7 seer es “ei oer =<br>1)a I a | coset<br>pa |<br>@ > L-<br>o<br>e9 Ps<br>|<br>oO Eq----i--~<--F |<br>>7| -<br>= ——————— |<br>I<br>|<br>|<br>2<br>6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13<br>———_— Ukr pre Feb 22 =—_<_{<_—<-. Ukr post Feb 22<br>——— Migrant post Feb 22 ———_ Migrant pre Feb 22<br>—— Italian<br><!-- End of picture text -->

results in Table 3 confirm that Ukrainian refugees and recent migrant students have higher rates of absenteeism compared to other student groups. Specifically, Ukrainian refugees miss an additional 8 significant, the analysis is narrowed to a sample including only these two groups. Table 4 reports the
coefficients from this estimation. The results indicate that Ukrainian refugees are consistently more disparity is particularly pronounced between Ukrainian refugees and Italian students, but significant <!-- Start of picture text --> Average Scores Maths Scores<br>220 220<br>200 200<br>180 180<br>160 160<br>140 140<br>120 120<br>100 100<br>Grade8& Grade 10 Grade 13 Grade8 Grade 10 Grade 13<br><!-- End of picture text --> <!-- Start of picture text --> Italian Scores English Scores W Ukr post<br>220 220 Feb 2022<br>200 200 @ Ukr pre<br>Feb 2022<br>180 180<br>@ Migrant<br>160 160 post Feb<br>2022<br>140 140 @ Migrant<br>pre Feb<br>120 120 2022<br>Gitalians<br>100 100<br>Grade8 Grade 10 Grade 13 Grade8 Grade 13<br><!-- End of picture text -->
their recent and abrupt arrival in Italy but is also likely to benefit from their strong educational Ukrainian refugees and foreign students who enrolled for the first time after February 2022.

arrived foreigners in Italian and English, but better in mathematics. These findings might be driven
Table B8, indicate that the gap in Italian language proficiency between refugees and other foreign students is more pronounced when compared to peers from the same continent. These findings are noteworthy and confirm that Ukrainian refugees may face greater challenges in learning Italian These findings align with previous research,
<!-- Start of picture text --> a a<br><!-- End of picture text --> the results in Table 3 indicate no significant gap in their recommendations for the High Track system foreigners. This finding is particularly interesting, as it suggests that despite higher rates of significantly influence their recommendations. Specifically, Carlana et al. (2022) show that teachers typically play a significant role in limiting refugees’ successful integration in
of child refugees. These findings confirm that Ukrainian students appear to struggle with Italian at in Italian than their peers in larger classes. This finding supports existing evidence that, while smaller class sizes have a modest impact on the general student population, the benefits are considerably
children and 61% of caregivers prefer to remain in Italy. Adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 express a greater desire to continue living in Italy compared to children aged between 9 and 14. Another survey conducted across Europe from June to December 2022 shows that only 8% of Ukrainian refugees planned to settle outside Ukraine (Adema et al., 2024). Compared to other foreign children in Italy, the aspirations of Ukrainian refugees to return to Ukraine seems signi�icantly higher: indeed, a recent study from ISTAT on children 11 to 19 years old shows that only 11% of foreign children wish to return to their home country (ISTAT, 2024). The relatively strong desire to return to Ukraine can have negative effects in refugee parents' educational decisions, particularly in encouraging their children to learn the language of the host country and in enrolling in school (Dryden-Peterson et al., 2019; Zengin and Atas-Akdemir, 2020).

_Figure 6- Aspirations and identity of refugee caregivers and students (Source: World Bank Survey on Ukrainian refugees in Italy)_ <!-- Start of picture text --> 68% 68%<br>61% 59% 59%<br>50%<br>35% 36%<br>31%<br>26% 26%<br>23%<br>Would like to continue living Would like to move back to Feel strongly connected to Feel strongly connected to<br>in Italy Ukraine Italy Ukraine<br>Caregivers (N=283) Children between 9 and 14 years old (N=141) Children between 15 and 20 years old (N=96)<br><!-- End of picture text --> Many students facing uncertain futures try to stay connected to both educational systems. Findings from the World Bank survey indicate that 25% of children are engaging in online Ukrainian schooling while being enrolled and attending Italian schools. The lack of certainty means children are trying to prepare for further studies (e.g., in universities) in two separate systems with varying requirements. The survey results indicate that students enrolled in both systems spend as much time in Italian schools as those attending only Italian schools, averaging 31 hours per week. However, students participating in both systems spend an additional 8 hours per week on online Ukrainian classes. This puts an extra burden on these children.

Connectedness to Italy is correlated with demographic characteristics and social environment of refugee children. Additionally, Table 6 shows that making new friends in the country of destination and speaking Italian are strongly associated with higher connection to Italy.

**The mental distress** resulting from displacement is a key barrier to educational integration for many Ukrainian refugees in Italy. The link between poor mental health and low school attendance and performance is widely acknowledged in the literature (see Fiining et al., 2019 for a systematic review). In the World Bank survey data, children and caregivers reported signs of mental distress, with 16% of children and 24% of refugee caregivers reported experiencing psychological distress

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exposure to armed conflicts and show a prevalence of major depressive disorder among this their caregivers. This is also confirmed by the literature, according to which children with caregivers students are more likely to feel sad, scared and not satisfied with their lives than their The 6-items Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K-6) was developed specifically to assess psychological ranked on a five-point scale, and the maximum score is 24. A score equal to or greater than 13 indicates the student is classified as having experienced bullying if they have encountered any of these issues. Students are classified as being “frequently bullied” if they are among the 10% of students with the highest
children were displaced abroad, significantly affecting various aspects of their lives, including fifth-largest number of Ukrainian refugees in the EU.

The findings reveal that, although enrollment rates have gradually improved, they remain notably reflecting optimism about their academic potential. The study also explores potential barriers to
With almost three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, addressing the risk of human capital losses among Ukrainian youth has become urgent. Drawing insights from the experiences of refugee students in Italy, this paper highlights a vulnerable group of displaced Ukrainians requiring targeted support. Coordinated efforts by host countries and Ukraine can mitigate these losses and reduce the displacement's long-term impact on Ukrainian students. A strategy addressing immediate needs while also planning for the medium- and long-term challenges of Ukrainian learners and their families offers a promising path to safeguarding their future. A continuous monitoring of the education outcomes of Ukrainian refugees in host countries is crucial to understand whether gaps persist over time. While this study gives a snapshot of the challenges faced by Ukrainian refugees in the initial years following their forced displacement, understanding whether the barriers they face become lower over time as they progressively integrate into host societies is important to calibrate policy responses. In this respect, access to data and continuous analysis in Italy, as well as in other EU host countries, are important pre-requisites to ensure evidence-based policy making in the area of refugees’ integration.

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