Some 134,000 Ukrainian children attended Polish schools prior to the summer holidays, Poland’s deputy education minister Joanna Mucha told private broadcaster Radio Lublin on Saturday.

But a large cohort had avoided compulsory education and rectifying this situation is “our responsibility,” Mucha said.

“We are introducing compulsory education for Ukrainian children. Moreover, we are combining this compulsory schooling with the collection of 800 Plus,” the deputy minister said in reference to the 800 zloty (€187) per child welfare benefit granted to every Polish family, and extended to Ukrainian refugees.

She said: “If it is the case that a child has not been enrolled in a Polish school starting September, they [the family] will simply have to return the 800 Plus they received.” v Ukrainian children are to study with Polish children under Polish teachers and according to the Polish curriculum. Once a week – on Saturdays – they will be able to participate in Ukrainian curriculum lessons, which are to be organized at the responsibility of the Ukrainian authorities. The process is also being monitored by the Polish Ministry of Education in collaboration with local governments, NGOs and charities.

In Mucha’s opinion, the requirement that Ukrainian children attend Polish schools will not result in any extra burden on the institutions, as most of the local government officials she met have claimed that there are usually only a small number of Ukrainian children per school.