DISINFO: First-graders from Ukrainian schools will not be able to count beyond one hundred
SUMMARY
Ukrainian schools aren’t able to give proper education apart from “patriotic education”. In 10 years, there will be a generation unable to read or write competently. Ukrainian first-graders can hardly count beyond a hundred. Already now children are leaving Ukrainian schools functionally illiterate.
RESPONSE
A common pro-Kremlin narrative about the Ukrainian education system. The state standard of primary education in Ukraine is common to all general secondary education institutions in the country. Among the competencies that a first-grader should have is mathematical competence, "which involves identifying simple mathematical relationships in the world, modeling processes and situations using mathematical relationships and measurements, understanding the role of mathematical knowledge and skills in personal and social life." According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 2018, 64% of students in Ukraine attained Level 2 or higher in mathematics (OECD average: 76%). At a minimum, these students can interpret and recognise, without direct instructions, how a (simple) situation can be represented mathematically (e.g. comparing the total distance across two alternative routes, or converting prices into a different currency). You could read similar claims here: "In Ukraine, schools will be closed in large numbers" and "Cultural genocide and the loss of 1300 primary schools awaits Ukraine".