Polish School Offers Ukraine Teens 'semblance Of Normalcy'

Polish school offers Ukraine teens 'semblance of normalcy'

Stuck to the door of one Warsaw high school is the sign "Laskavo prosimo do shkoli", or "Welcome to school" in Ukrainian, along with the flags of Poland and Ukraine

Warsaw, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Mar, 2022 ) :Stuck to the door of one Warsaw high school is the sign "Laskavo prosimo do shkoli", or "Welcome to school" in Ukrainian, along with the flags of Poland and Ukraine.

Chattering in Russian and Ukrainian, teenagers who have just fled their wartorn homeland use magnetic key cards to enter and are welcomed again with a large yellow-blue flag and the slogan "Slava Ukraini" or "Glory to Ukraine".

It is their first day of school in Poland, where the 13- to 15-year-olds have sought shelter their country was invaded.

Divided into two groups of 20, they are greeted by their new teacher, who shuttles from one classroom to the other throughout the lesson.

From the Ukrainian city of Lviv, a refugee just like them, Mariana Druchek, lays out the plan for the day and passes out a maths test.

"Uh oh," comes the response. Viktoria, 16, and 15-year-olds Polina and Zoriana are in a panic.

"It's on things we covered three years ago, in grade eight -- I forgot it all," said Viktoria, to which the others chime in with "same".

But they relax soon enough.

By break time, they are all smiles, saying the atmosphere is "really good" and "positive" and "the class and school in general are all right".

It is as if their mad dash out of Kyiv with barely any luggage -- to the backdrop of bombs and blasts -- was already fading somewhat into the distance.

But the sense of danger is still there.

- 'Education and peace' - Limanowski High School has been able to accommodate the new students and hire new teachers thanks to funding from the mayor's office.

On day one, Renata Kozlowska, a city official for the school's neighbourhood of Zoliborz, came to welcome the teenagers.

She told them that "all of Poland is with you" and stressed that they have the right to "an education and peace".

The teenagers -- who come from various cities, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk -- will follow a pared-down version of Poland's curriculum, including English, Polish, history, maths, physics and gym.

The classes will be taught by Ukrainian teachers who themselves had fled the war, with a bilingual educator at the helm of each group.