Learning to survive: Ukrainian children in Estonian schools.

There are currently around 18,000 Ukrainian children and teenagers living in Estonia. Not only did these children have to flee their homeland to escape the war, but they have also had to quickly adapt to a new society and education system. But how easy or difficult is it for Ukrainian children to adapt to our school system? The Estonian education system is often cited as a lead – it is at the top of various rankings. For example, the 2025/26 academic year has been declared the Year of Inclusive Education by the city of Tallinn. Education advocates emphasize that Estonian schools are flexible and take into account the interests of each student. It is impossible to list all the positive aspects.

Director Katrina Lehismäe’s documentary presents the stories of several Ukrainian children. They must cope with war trauma and adapt to Estonian society and the school system. In addition to the children’s stories, the director also painfully and bluntly highlights the shortcomings of our education system. Is everything in our education system really as it seems from the outside?

The film provides a lot of thought for our schools and education advocates – perhaps we should consider education from a different perspective, rather than focusing solely on achieving good rankings.

Mikk Granström