A discreet smile appears on the face of young Dyma Tarandiuk, 12 years old. In front of him, neatly laid out on the large table, three notebooks, pens and a handful of felt-tip pens. Ordinary school supplies that light up her blue eyes. Because, for him, it is the symbol of a return to normality.
The war in Ukraine forced Dyma to leave behind all his landmarks, his relatives, his friends. In Zhytomyr, not far from kyiv, the bombardments were incessant. With his mother, Oksana, and his cousin Anna Melnyk, on March 7, he reached the Polish capital. In Poland, far from the anguish of anti-aircraft alerts, the boy can rediscover a certain carelessness and reconnect with other preoccupations. Starting with “making new friends”. On this Thursday in March, he is about to settle on the benches of the primary school noh 103. “Here, there are plenty of Ukrainian children, we will be able to discuss! he rejoices.
The school in the Mokotów district of Warsaw has welcomed more than 82 Ukrainian children since the start of the war. “It was the owner of the apartment where we are staying who recommended going to this school to enroll my son. The Poles help us a lot”, rejoices Oksana, who hopes to find a job while waiting for the return of peace in her country. “It is important that he continues to go to school. He will first do a preparatory class to study Polish intensively before joining the students of his age. »
Because exile also means, for Dyma, learning a new language. “It’s not easy for these children, because they have to immerse themselves in a foreign universe; they were not prepared to leave their country,” says Olga Rachkovska, a Ukrainian assistant teacher working with non-Polish children. According to her, the language barrier is real, but not insurmountable: there is a certain proximity between Ukrainian and Polish, two Slavic languages which do not however use the same alphabet. “They are children, they learn quickly; in one or two weeks they are able to communicate. I would say that there are 60% similarities between the two languages. Afterwards, for Russian-speaking Ukrainians, [qui sont majoritaires dans l’est de l’Ukraine]it’s a little harder,” explains M.me Rachkovska.
When hired at the school noh 103, a little over two years ago, the woman originally from Ternopil, in western Ukraine, worked mainly with Russian-speaking children from Belarus. In the wake of the fraudulent re-election of despot Alexander Lukashenko, many had taken refuge in neighboring Poland to escape repression. But since February 24, the date marking the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Olga has welcomed a wave of young Ukrainians.
Among other tasks, she assists parents and children in their school registration process, and beyond. “If I have time, I’m next to the child and I explain to him in Ukrainian or Russian. I help the parents to complete the documents. […] Also, the kitchen is a bit different [en Pologne et] in Ukraine ; It’s normal for children to have a little difficulty eating at first. »
Unfailing solidarity
The behavior of each child “often depends on the region in Ukraine where they come from”, she observes. Those from around Lviv, in the west of the country, a region less marked by the conflict, are not as shaken as children from southern or eastern Ukraine, who are under fire from Moscow . “Children who have seen the war up close are very stressed. Often their father stayed in Ukraine to fight, since men between the ages of 18 and 60 cannot leave the country. It is therefore important that these children keep busy at school. May they be with the company of their age, may they not see their mother cry. We recently welcomed a child from Kherson [une ville occupée par l’armée russe]. He is still scared. »
Here, in this school welcoming young people from 7 to 15 years old, solidarity with Ukrainians is displayed everywhere, like the rest of Polish civil society. Above each of the premises or almost – from the toilets to the library, through the classrooms – we have affixed inscriptions in the Cyrillic alphabet. Here and there are displayed drawings and hearts in the colors of Ukraine. Polish and Ukrainian flags intertwine everywhere on the walls.
In the office of the director, it is also benevolence that prevails. Danuta Kozakiewicz uses her little secret with each new schoolboy from Ukraine whom she welcomes within the walls of her establishment: Pola, the teddy bear. “”Hello, my name is Pola, welcome to school!” That’s how I introduce him. They hug him, and they already feel better afterwards, ”says the Polish woman with dark hair. To communicate, she uses her “poor English”, her rudiments of Russian learned during the communist period and “a lot of empathy”.
The trained historian also explains that a Ukrainian psychologist was recently hired thanks to funds from the town hall. “He helps children in the most difficult situations, for example when they receive a phone call indicating that their fathers have been injured and are in hospital. »
Six Ukrainian refugees have also been recruited to support Polish teachers. During lessons, the use of the telephone is now allowed so that students and teachers can use translation software to understand each other. Classes reserved for Ukrainian children have also been set up to accelerate their learning of the Polish language.
A system under pressure
The Polish institutions were quickly put in working order to welcome the young Ukrainians fleeing the hostilities. In early March, the government passed a bill regularizing the status of Ukrainian refugees in Poland for at least 18 months, giving them access to schools. According to the Polish Ministry of Education, no less than 180,000 Ukrainian school children have entered the country’s school system, three quarters of them in primary school.
An integration that is only growing, and which already represents quite a challenge for schools.
The authorities have certainly promised substantial financial support so that the system can hold up – while ensuring that several hundred thousand children will still be able to enter Polish schools in the months to come – but the latter are already beginning to run out of money. resources. “The problem is that in normal times, it is already difficult to find teachers in mathematics or computer science, for example. This influx requires even more resources, whereas it was already complicated before,” explains Danuta Kozakiewicz. “Refugee school children need more funding, psychological help, Ukrainian-speaking assistants… But obviously, as a school, we were not prepared for the war. »
It’s quite a challenge, especially for Polish teachers, who find themselves on the front line of this exodus, facing children who are sometimes marked by trauma. “You have to have empathy, more patience than before. I try not to talk about the war, the bombs, ”says Artur Lauterbach, physical education teacher at the school noh 103. “Sport is a universal language, but I’m sure schools need a lot more support, especially for teachers of maths, English or other subjects. »
“Some children [ukrainiens] are doing very well; others are very quiet, isolated, shy, ”continues the 31-year-old man, sports clothes on his back. “The other day there was a young Ukrainian girl who was crying all the time, her parents had to pick her up from school. I do not speak Russian or Ukrainian, which does not facilitate communication. Some don’t understand why they had to flee the war, and maybe it’s better that way…” He nevertheless receives a little help from his more cheerful Polish pupils: “They say to the Ukrainians: if you need help, don’t hesitate, you can ask us whatever you want, regardless of the language. »
To unclog schools, many are calling for the creation of “Ukrainian international classes” parallel to the Polish education system. A measure that, for the moment, the Ministry of Education refuses to implement. “However, it would be better for these children to learn in their own language, with Ukrainian teachers and a Ukrainian curriculum,” laments Dorota Łoboda, Warsaw city councilor and head of the education commission. According to her, there is “no interest” in educating these young Ukrainians in the Polish system, because many families will return to the fold when the war ends. “And then, finding themselves in a foreign linguistic environment is an additional trauma for them. »