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Post by Bonobo on Mar 19, 2022 22:37:37 GMT 1
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 19, 2022 22:44:09 GMT 1
Children from Ukraine in Polish schools. How does it look in practice?
Katarzyna Drelich
REPORTAGES Friday, March 11th (1:55 pm)
About half a million Ukrainian children have reached Poland since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Regardless of whether Ukrainian families will stay with us permanently or decide to change their place of stay, as long as they stay with us, they can enroll their children in Polish schools. So far, nearly 24,000 students have been enrolled in schools. children from Ukraine. How does it look in practice?
Before the war in Ukraine, 101,505 Ukrainian students studied in Polish schools. It would seem, therefore, that at first glance, Polish education is prepared for the influx of more children and youth from Ukraine. However, one has to take into account the fact that at this point it is taking place on a massive scale. Therefore, many questions arise: from schools, parents of children already in school and, above all, from refugees who would like to send their children to Polish schools.
How are Polish schools prepared to admit new students? What about the language barrier? How does it all work in practice?
Integration and positive reception by Polish students
On the website of the Ministry of Education and Science we read: "We support refugees from Ukraine! Every pupil or student fleeing the war and needing help in Poland - will receive it! The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared a number of recommendations and guidelines on how to enroll a child in school and receive psychological help -edagogical ".
You can find information that children from Ukraine are admitted to schools under the same conditions as Polish children. Another optimistic piece of information is also the one about children who do not know Polish - "the school principal will be able to organize additional Polish language classes".
We asked parents from Krakow schools about teaching children from Ukraine a few days after the start of their mass admission. There are many fears, but the first impressions given to them by the children are comforting.
- There are already six boys with my daughter, there will be two more. They're doing well, this is seventh grade. The teachers try to help them, the psychologist has already taken lessons on how to integrate. It looks good, my daughter constantly talks about them, because they are already integrating - says Ms Elżbieta, mother of a student from one of Krakow's schools.
- Four girls from Ukraine joined my 13-year-old daughter's class yesterday, one of them lives with us. After returning from school, she was satisfied, although she doesn't know Polish at all. But he listens, not everything registers ... But children get on better with each other than adults - says Małgorzata.
- A boy from Ukraine joined my daughter's class. He does not speak Polish, but sits with a girl who understands more and explains to him, says another mother of a child who attends primary school. Another woman also points out that the children help each other and try to cope by using the phone's translator. - A boy has joined his daughter, from today there will be more children, but they already have children from Ukraine in the class, so there is support. At my niece, who is in the fifth grade, there is a new, slightly lost girl, but the translator in the phone works and a little English also helps - says Ms Anna.
Although the openness of children from Polish schools to new friends from Ukraine is huge, which definitely affects the well-being of the enrolled students, the question arises whether the teachers are systematically prepared for the upcoming changes?
- Again the ministry threw the teachers into the deep end. They can do it with the remote, they will do it with children from Ukraine. They did not manage to prepare training courses, materials for us, or send them to schools. Desperate teachers now sit and search the "internet".
As in the case of grassroots civic assistance to refugees from Ukraine, there are doubts as to whether this time teachers will be left alone to help newly arrived students. - Now we will train for hours, learn their language. Of course it's free. Overtime. No extra buck. And the ministers will receive thousands of prizes in six months, as they organized everything efficiently, complains Ms Malwina, a teacher at one of the primary schools.
However, as underlined by the Ministry of Education and Science, teachers are also very important to him. - The issue of teachers is very important to us. We have included appropriate solutions in this area in the special act. The new regulations make the admission to Polish schools more flexible of Ukrainian teachers and those who will be able to support children from Ukraine. Many of these people have experience in education and they can be employed as a teacher's assistant in preparatory departments - informs us the spokesman of MEiN.
Ms Natalia, who teaches in primary school, also draws attention to the aspect of caring for Polish students - In my class I already have three children from Ukraine and I must admit that it cannot be done in such a way that neither side suffers. I print or prepare separate tasks for children from Ukraine, but I focus on my Polish students, they cannot lose! It is a pity that Ukrainian mothers with pedagogical education cannot run departments for children from Ukraine, e.g. in the afternoon, during the second shift. Then these children would also implement their program. They could also act as classroom assistants. I translate a lot with Google Translate, but not everything. My assumption is that there is some time apart and some time together. We only have an order from the management to ensure safe conditions for children from Ukraine - says the teacher.
An important aspect is also the emphasis on trying to integrate new students. The educational aspect in the first days is not as important as providing children with a sense of security in a new school and trying to assimilate them. - I have two children in my class, luckily they speak Russian, which I know. I focused on integrating children from Ukraine with other children, I do not put pressure on learning Polish letters, everything on my own time - says Beata, a school teacher in grades 1-3.
Another issue raised by teachers is the limit of students per class. In the case of grades 1-3, so far it has been statutorily 25 people. - I have 25 people in the class, we can barely fit in the room and I just got a message about an additional child - says the teacher from grades 1-3. - I already have 26 children in kindergarten, today I received information that the limit was increased to 29 - adds Magdalena, who also teaches in the first grades of primary school.
- We have introduced such provisions, thanks to which in the current school year it will be possible to increase the number of children in the kindergarten section and in grades 1-3 of primary school. These solutions are dictated by the rapid inclusion of children from Ukraine into the Polish education system, especially in a situation where it is not possible to create a preparatory unit for them - comments the spokesman of the Ministry of Education and Science.
The assumptions are promising
The assumptions presented by the Ministry of Education and Science look promising. To enroll a child in school, an application must be submitted to the head of the facility. Public primary schools located in the area of Ukrainian residence should admit children ex officio. School principals are to decide what additional aid they grant to refugee children. These may be Polish language classes, remedial classes in given subjects, psychological help, as well as providing help from a person who speaks the language of the country of origin employed as a teacher's assistant. The latter seems to be a necessary measure, but staff shortages certainly do not make this task easier.
Will the education system withstand these profound changes? Will teachers be able to cope with the additional, completely new challenges? The answers to these questions are, for the time being, the great unknown.
kobieta.interia.pl/obudzily-mnie-strzaly-wojna-w-ukrainie/reportaze/news-dzieci-z-ukrainy-w-polskich-szkolach-jak-to-wyglada-w-prakty,nId,5884189
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 20, 2022 20:15:55 GMT 1
Two approaches towards Ukrainian kids` integration into the education system are discussed: how to teach them Polish and Latin alphabet as soon as possible?
Option 1 - a few Ukrainian kids join Polish students in their class and crash learn Polish through everyday contact
Option 2 - create seperate classes for Ukrainian kids and teach them Polish through a prep course.
Opinions are perfectly divided in half.
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Post by jeanne on Mar 23, 2022 0:45:39 GMT 1
Do you have any Ukrainian students in your classes?
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 30, 2022 20:49:16 GMT 1
Yes, a dozen have already enrolled in our school and 5 are in my classes. Judging by their English and overall performance, they come from backgrounds where good education played a role.
So far about 130.000 Ukrainian students have been accepted into the system. Local councils in major cities are warning the classes are becoming unbearably stretched. And they don`t have enough teachers.
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 15, 2022 13:03:04 GMT 1
My Ukrainian students say they like the relaxed atmosphere in our school. In Ukrainian ones teachers are much stricter and demanding and do a lot of tests.  Currently, over 160.000 Ukrainian kids go to Polish schools. konkret24.tvn24.pl/polska,108/uczniowie-z-ukrainy-w-polskich-szkolach-20-powiatow-ktore-przyjely-ich-najwiecej,1101754.html Quotas per voivodship  |
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