A teacher and refugee from Ukraine has set up a school for Ukraine refugee children in Bucharest, Romania. Anastasia Konovalova, 30, was a headteacher in Ostrovok Primary School in Odesa, Ukraine. However, when the war broke out due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Konovalova left the country and sought asylum in Romania, NPR reports.
Sense of normalcy
The teacher from Odesa, Ukraine, teaches English to young Ukrainian refugee children at an elite high school, the Mihai Viteazul National College. These children sport their UNICEF backpacks while their parents wait for them in the courtyard of Mihai Viteazul.
When Konovalova decided to evacuate to Romania, she initially thought about her 2-year-old son. However, she decided to bring more school books than clothing later on. She admits that she could have been subconsciously thinking of opening a school or teaching upon evacuation.
Bringing a sense of normalcy to the displaced Ukrainian children was vital to her, and she turned her attention to the well-being of these children. According to a report from the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies, she expressed that creating a safe and familiar environment for refugee children is critical. Opening a school or teaching refugee children in Romania is one of the ways to create a safe and familiar atmosphere for the displaced kids.
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Space for Education: High School During the Day
At the onset, Konovalova started asking around through refugee assistance hubs about classes for Ukrainian children. However, there were none. Due to the stress that these refugees were experiencing, teachers like Konovalova were having a hard time. They were willing to teach many refugee children, but they did not have the space to hold classes.
Eventually, however, someone told her that there was a center for refugee children. It was not a school, but Konovalova and others started teaching there. Once the demand for space became greater, Konovalova talked with the Ministry of Education and sought help for a better place to teach.
Konovalova and her colleagues now have an actual school as a space for teaching and learning. In the day, it is a high school. However, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., it becomes a Ukrainian primary school. There are already 227 students within the 4 to 11 age bracket and hundreds more on the waiting list. There are about 35 children per class, but the main challenge for these children, according to Konovalova, is the language barrier.
Most of these children came from the Russian-speaking city of Odesa, while some speak Ukrainian. However, none of these children know Romanian. At present, Konovalova is trying to recruit teachers who can teach Romanian to the kids.
Romania has never considered itself a haven. However, the war in Ukraine has changed that. Konovalova and these children are part of the considerable number that made Romania the country with the second-largest influx of refugees since the outbreak of war.
BBC reports that Romania hosts around 662,751 Ukrainian refugees as of the first week of April.
Related Article: Russian Invasion Prompts Around 4.8 Million Ukrainian Children to Leave Homes, UN says
