a Ukrainian high school student, educated near Paris, talks about his first two months in France

“I write, you write, he writes…”, Ana Massoulier, a literature teacher of Russian origin, has Sergei, a 17-year-old Ukrainian, student at the Paul Langevin high school in Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine), repeat aloud. The teacher has been teaching French to three high school students integrated into a first class for more than a month after fleeing the war in Ukraine. “I have family in Russia, I have family in Ukraine. It’s a personal story, she confides. I can’t help taking care of these people. I help as I can. It’s my contribution to welcoming these people.”

The priority of Ana Massoulier’s course: to enable young Ukrainians to communicate in everyday life and especially in class. Sergei has been in France for two months and would like to continue his studies there: “For me, it’s important to learn French to stay here and do my schooling here. When I’m in class, I’m distracted from my negative thoughts and I try to concentrate as much as possible on the course I’m taking. following.”

Like Sergei, nearly 15,000 Ukrainian students – schoolchildren, college students, high school students – are educated in France because of the Russian invasion. Institutions try to adapt to the needs of these young exiles. For Laurent Abecassis, the principal of Lycée Paul Langevin, it is important to go at their own pace: “For the moment, we are in the first phase of the reception. That is to say to acquire good notions of French. No exam, no evaluation. For the moment, we are teaching them French.”

In addition to French lessons, the three Ukrainian students benefit from sports, English, visual arts and mathematics lessons. This also allows them to meet students of their age like Yasmine: “This meeting started a few weeks ago. So, we saw that we had a lot in common. We listened to the same music, a lot of Lana Del Rey. I have these memories where we put our phones with Lana Del Rey fully with the sun, we were drawing, we were doing art projects.”

“It must have been complicated for them to change countries like that, knowing that they didn’t choose at all.” And I tell myself that it can be good to have someone to talk to, especially when We are the same age.”

Yasmine, French high school student from Suresnes

at franceinfo

These teenagers also follow, for the most part, the courses provided online by their home school. They are already planning to return to Ukraine at the end of the school year to take the equivalent of the baccalaureate.

How high schools organize themselves to welcome Ukrainian students: this is a report to listen to at length in Le Quart d’Heure, the franceinfo news podcast.