FactualSince the start of the war, Polish schools, which are experiencing a shortage of teachers, have already received 165,000 Ukrainian schoolchildren, according to the authorities.
Primary and secondary school number 2 in Legionowo, a town 25 kilometers from Warsaw, reserves a particularly warm welcome for its new pupils. On one panel, a bird in the colors of Ukraine takes flight. “Hope gives wings”, we read in Polish on one side, in Ukrainian on the other. Solidarity with the neighboring country attacked since February 24 by Russia is displayed in the corridors, while labels indicate the function of each room, in Cyrillic characters.
In this school complex in the northern suburbs of the Polish capital, which accommodates 1,200 students aged 7 to 15, more than 110 Ukrainian children have been educated since the start of the war. Although the pace of arrivals has slowed down recently, and some Ukrainians have decided to return to their country, Poland still has more arrivals than departures. Some 2.5 million refugees have entered the country in the past six weeks.
“It is important that Ukrainian children who fled the war can interact with other children”says the director of the establishment, Dorota Kuchta, in her office. “Those who arrived in the early days of the conflict were relatively spared, she remarks, but, since then, we have children coming from places that have been bombed. They stayed in bomb shelters, saw horrible things. They arrive with traumas that require special psychological help. »
Dorota Kuchta is delighted to have been able to recruit a student mother, who arrived recently from Ukraine, with her family. It will come to strengthen the teams of school psychotherapists. The director can also count on the presence of Ukrainian children educated before the war in her classes to facilitate the integration of newcomers. And, from the first days, it was the parents of students who provided for the needs of the young refugees: hygiene products, meals and school bags full of supplies were offered, financed through collections or in soliciting businesses.
On the other hand, M.me Kuchta may well run out of teachers. To tell the truth, it is already lacking, while salaries barely reach 3,250 zlotys (700 euros) monthly on average in education. “Poland already had a shortage of teachers. We can no longer recruit them. Currently, I am looking for primary school teachers and I employ several temporary workers. » With the influx of Ukrainian children, the needs are more pressing. “For the moment, we are doing well. And we still have a little room in our classes. But if we double the number of children welcomed since the start of the war, that will no longer be possible. And the law does not authorize us to hire foreign teachers without the originals of their diploma – which must be certified – and without knowledge of Polish”she explains.
You have 50.15% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.