Ukrainian children integrate well into Swiss schools

Some 69% of Ukrainian children and young people between the ages of 4 and 16 attended Swiss schools exclusively in spring 2023. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / GAETAN BALLY

According to a survey, almost all children and young people from Ukraine receive education in Switzerland. The Swiss Refugee Council (SFH) and LCH, the umbrella organisation of teachers in Switzerland, report many positive experiences.

According to a study conducted by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR last year, 69% of Ukrainian children and young people between the ages of 4 and 16 attended Swiss schools exclusively in spring 2023.

A further 25% also received online distance learning in accordance with the Ukrainian curriculum. The proportion of those who only took part in distance learning was low at 3%.

+ How two years of war have marked Switzerland

Protection status S, which was provided to Ukrainians fleeing the war, grants refugee children the right to attend school in Switzerland immediately.

‘A great deal of work”

“The integration of the children into mainstream schools is working well,” explains Eliane Engeler, media spokesperson for Refugee Aid. The schools have done a great deal of work to accommodate the many children. For those who attend both Swiss and Ukrainian classes, however, this can be a huge time burden.

Dagmar Rösler, Central President of the LCH Association, said that she could not make any representative statements about how well integration was working. However, there are numerous positive examples of children and young people integrating into schools and communities.

Welcome classes

Language was a major barrier when it came to making friends and settling into everyday life, says Rösler. “There are children and young people who were able to pick up the German language very quickly, while others need a little longer,” he said. The so-called welcome classes that helped children concentrate on learning the respective national language and life in a foreign country have now been abolished in many places.

+ Swiss keep protection status S for Ukrainian refugees

When asked about the psychological strain on Ukrainian pupils caused by the war in their home country and their experience of violence, Rösler points to the range of experiences. Some children are able to integrate relatively easily, while others have suffered trauma. The latter is very difficult for teachers, as they have no specialised psychological training. Teachers are dependent on the support of specialists.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp.

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