The UK Government has promised funding for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) lessons to support refugees arriving from Ukraine. However, according to the project development manager of charity English for Action (EFA), Stephanie Habib, no additional funds have yet been provided to London councils.
“This expectation was reinforced by the announcement of the £10,500 stipend that would be paid to local councils for each person arriving under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to support their integration,” she told publication SWLondoner. “With promises of ESOL come the expectation that this ESOL will be funded through additional budget allocation, especially when ESOL providers in London are already notoriously stretched and under-resourced.
“Still, on our side, we aren’t seeing dedicated funding being made available so that we community organisations can step in to help [arriving] Ukrainians.”
This is despite the Government’s ‘Guide for Ukrainians’ arriving in the UK stating that ESOL classes will be available for them and a promised £10,500 stipend per Ukrainian allocated to local councils to pay for the additional support they will need.
It isn’t just Ukrainians in London who are suffering from a lack of funding. Liz Denham, managing director at Weybridge International School of English (WISE), in Surrey told the SWLondoner: “It has been quite difficult to get any funding, but through sheer persistency I have managed to secure a grant from the council.
“There is a high demand for Ukrainian refugees to learn English. A lot of them need to find work. Online provision is great, but people need face-to-face classes now. They have just arrived from Ukraine and are quite traumatised. They need to come to a place where they actually physically meet people and learn English.”
