In this spring we saw, that for refugees arriving in Estonia, it may be unaffordable to purchase school supplies or clothes for their children, among other essential things. That’s why we decided to start giving out one-time financial support with the help of our donators.

From the middle of April, we have been able to help about 2000 children with over 100 000 euros. One payment of support is 50 euros. Mostly, people have bought school supplies and clothes for going to school, but also essential food. Support is given to families with children between the age of 7-19, who are under international or temporary protection in the year 2022. When applying for this support, a child must have been accepted into the school.

According to the Ministry Of Education And Research, over 4600 Ukrainian children have been signed up for Estonian schools. This support is also paid to children from other countries, who are under international or temporary protection.

Feedback from parents

We asked 150 parents, how this support has helped to support their children. The feedback was mostly positive because it was very helpful. It gave the opportunity to buy essential school supplies because when starting school, there are lots of things to buy: notebooks, pens, and other things. Adding up, it makes a big part of the family budget.

Overall, people said that getting support is easy. The positive side was the good functioning of the system – when documents were in order, money was transferred to a bank account in a few days. Thanks to fast procedures, people dared to suggest submitting the application to acquaintances. 

The most confusing part has been submitting the right documents. Along with the application, you must add the residence permit decision which turns out the purpose of giving the permit. Often, a photo of the child or a copy of the ID-card has been added to the application. In some cases, the right document has been lost, and getting duplicates from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board is troublesome.

76% of the respondents got support for one child, 21,3% for two, and 3% for three children. A few parents got support for more than four children. The support is paid to an Estonian bank account. 

How the support was used?

Most of the respondents, 98 people used the support to buy school supplies. 86 bought clothes for children and 27 food supplies. 

If you know a child who is under international or temporary protection and has not received school support yet, ask them to submit an application here: https://www.pagulasabi.ee/koolitoetus.