French schools help Ukrainian children confront trauma, language barrier

Ukrainian children fleeing the horrors of war are being hurriedly enrolled in French schools under a national reception plan that prioritises language lessons and trauma counselling for refugees aged between 3 and 11.

So far almost 800 young people have been welcomed into creches, kindergartens, primary and high schools –many of which already have existing programmes for teaching French to foreign children.

Conjugating verbs and learning maths is off the curriculum for the Ukrainians. Instead, teachers are given educational resources instructing them how best to speak with children about Ukraine and their sudden displacement.

"We try to get them to talk, to learn words so that they can introduce themselves,” Anne-Laure, a parent volunteer in a primary school in Senlis, northern France, told Europe 1 radio.

“We do this using simple but useful phrases to establish a first contact … This will also allow us to understand how they feel.”

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer this week said crisis cells had been set up in every local education authority as part of the reception plan.

On Tuesday he chatted with Ukrainian children during a visit to a primary school outside of Paris alongside the President's wife, Brigitte Macron.

To help integrate the children, the government said it would involve parents by opening free municipal courses to teach them French and the "values of the republic".

Obstacles

Despite swift efforts to get Ukrainians into the French school system, many obstacles remain. And, with the number of refugees expected to triple in the coming days, the job is far from over.

Blanquer's plan has yet to be finalised and some schools – including the École Polyvalente Eva Kotchever in Paris – are only able to act as emergency reception centres, with zero interaction between the school's own teachers and pupils.

It's a system that is evolving from day to day, said Hélène Soupios-David, of the NGO France Terre d'Asile, which has been running reception centres that find emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

“Schooling is a right for all these people, but it is difficult to provide schooling for people who are in emergency accommodation and who will have to move,” she told French daily Libération.

Paris plan

Meanwhile the city of Paris has been rolling out its own scheme to integrate Ukrainian children. It involves dedicated nursery schools and crèches for young children, as well as free access to school canteens.

Publicly run child protection centres, known as PMIs, will also offer free consultations and psychological support to children and families.

Of the roughly 2.8 million people who have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, some 13,900 have arrived in France so far.

The government says it now has the means to accommodate up to 100,000 refugees on French soil, as authorities continue to “work on scenarios” that would allow the country to take in more.

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