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Overnight they became exiles. Now the two Ukrainian teenagers are attending high school in the canton of Bern – and are facing an uncertain future.
Anastasia is 14 years old. In the summer she switches to the 9th grade – the last official school year. What comes next? If you had asked her three months ago, she would have said: «After the 9th grade I want to go to England to study. Then back to Ukraine, work as a translator or a lawyer. And when I’m older, I want to run my own bakery.”
That was the plan. But then came the war. “Now I have no more plans. I don’t know », says Anastasiia and looks into an uncertain future.
From Kyiv to Bern
Together with her mother and sister Aisha, she fled to Switzerland via Poland around two months ago. In the Bern community where she was accommodated, she was soon able to attend high school. “I like the school here. There are interesting lessons, such as cooking or handwork. I love that!”
Only the language causes her difficulties, says Anastasiia. You can speak a little German. “But the children here speak Swiss German, it’s so difficult!” In addition to classes in Switzerland, Anastasiia attends Ukrainian lessons online. This includes subjects such as mathematics, history or Ukrainian grammar.
I notice how nice the teachers are here in Switzerland.
She sits at the computer for about two to three hours a day to solve the Ukrainian exercises, she says. “But I could do more,” she says self-critically. After all, she passed the important annual exam that she completed online last week.
In Ukraine, each school year ends with a test. Only those who are good enough get ahead. Aisha, 13 years old, knows that too. She has been in Switzerland for almost three months. Aisha has just successfully completed the 7th school year, also online. Now the holidays are starting in Ukraine. A three-month summer break! Unlike in Switzerland.
Legend:
Thousands of Ukrainian children are already going to school in Switzerland. An estimated 14,000 school-age children have come to our country since the beginning of the war. Two of them are Aisha (left) and Anastasiia, here in a school building in Bern.
Eliane Leiser/SRF
And there are other differences between the school systems, says Aisha. «In Ukraine we have homework every day – up to 5 hours.» School hours are also different: they come in the morning and then stay at school until the afternoon, without a long lunch break. “I also notice how nice the teachers are here in Switzerland.”
It is important to them how she is doing and that the atmosphere in the class is good, as is the relationship between the students. Actually, she likes it better here, says Aisha.
What next?
But the big problem for her is that she was in Ukraine on her way to becoming a professional athlete in rhythmic gymnastics. She trained six days a week. With only one goal in mind, to become an athletic trainer. She would have known exactly what to do about it. In Ukraine.
Of course, there are also universities and sports courses in Switzerland. But it is currently unclear how or if Ukrainians can enroll at a Swiss university at all. According to the responsible Swiss authorities, the school systems are too different.
Legend:
The prospect of an apprenticeship here in Switzerland is also difficult – because nobody knows how long the Ukrainian refugees will stay or be allowed to stay in Switzerland. The protection status S now expires after one year. In the picture: Ukrainian refugees in an integration class near Sion (VS).
key stone
The future is uncertain for the two Ukrainian students. Can you imagine a different career path? “Maybe,” says Aisha, the athlete. Your dream would burst with it, that much is clear. And Anastasiia shrugs her shoulders too. At the moment she is just happy that she has a future at all. For that she is grateful.