Ukraine’s Ministry of Education noted that less than half of young people speak Ukrainian

Less than half of Ukrainian youth now speak Ukrainian as their main language.

This was stated by Deputy Minister of Education Anastasia Konovalova during the forum “Ukrainian — the Language of the Strong,” held in Kyiv to mark the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language.

According to ministry data, in the first year of the war — 2022 — 46% of children spoke Ukrainian regularly; in 2023, that figure rose to 55%, but in 2024, it dropped again to 49%.

“On the positive side, children’s proficiency in Ukrainian continues to grow. In 2022, 61% of children and young people said they were fluent in Ukrainian; in 2023 — 72%; and in 2024 — 75%. So, children know the language better each year, but they use it less in everyday life,” Konovalova noted.

A third of respondents explained this by habit; 20% said their families speak Russian at home; 13% noted that outside of school they have no Ukrainian-speaking environment; and 12% said they don’t use the language due to insufficient knowledge.

At the same time, the deputy minister pointed out that 9% of children believe their social environment has a biased attitude toward the Ukrainian language.

It should be recalled that in March, a bill was introduced to the Verkhovna Rada requiring that only Ukrainian be spoken in schools — even during breaks.