Ukrainian community moves their school to The Hague

Need for supplementary education

THE HAGUE - Children of 4,000 strong Ukrainian-Dutch community are now able to follow supplementary courses in the language of their parents at the facilities of British School in The Netherlands. The new location for Veselka offers the group growth potential at its convenient location.

In anticipation of further growth, ‘Veselka’, the name of the Ukrainian School in the Netherlands, has moved to the British School's Vlaskamp location.

‘Veselka' seeks to give children the opportunity to have a supplementary education in Ukrainian. Being based in The Hague makes it easily accessible from other areas of the Netherlands.

Veselka’s officials note that Ukraine rates as the second largest country in Europe by area, fifth largest in terms of population and one of the EU’s major trading partners. Many Ukrainians work as scientists, IT specialists and international relations specialists in the Netherlands.

Veselka was established last year with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Netherlands and is managed by the Ukraine Culturalis Foundation (Stichting Oekraine Culturalis). In the past, Ukrainian-Dutch children attended Russian classes.

The Netherlands and Ukraine have been trading since the early 1600s, a partnership which continues. Direct foreign investment by over 200 Dutch companies flows into the Ukrainian economy, operating primarily in agriculture, petroleum and production – such as Philips, Shell and Unilever. Dutch entrepreneurs are the third largest foreign investors in Ukraine.