The first Ukrainian students are very welcome at Taalrijk in Horst. The teachers at this school for non-native speakers find it strange that everything suddenly seems possible.
“Educational resources are available more quickly, webinars about how to deal with these students are popping up like mushrooms. That’s good, but we wonder why that was never the case for all those other refugees who are at our school,” asks Sanne Nijsten , coordinator of Taalrijk, wonders.
No difference
This school has had a department in Dendron College in Horst for four years now. At the moment there are eighty students of thirteen nationalities at Taalrijk, who are mainly taught in the Dutch language. Children of refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers have been taught for years. “I don’t see any difference,” says Nijsten. “A child is a child, regardless of faith or nationality. It would be nice if all those initiatives that are now getting off the ground are also possible if refugees from other countries come this way.”
Warmer welcome
At the moment there are three new students from Ukraine including Artemii. The 12-year-old boy who comes from near Kiev has fled the war zone with his mother. In Horst he has classmates from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. “Students are especially curious about Artemii and want to know how he is and where he comes from,” says Nijsten. “They notice that Ukrainians get a warmer welcome in the Netherlands, but that does not yet cause tensions in the classroom.”
Heap
Everything is being done to help and receive refugees from Ukraine. Some are even at work or at school. “I hope that we learn from this and that in the future it will also be possible to look at all refugee children in this way, regardless of where they come from,” says the teacher.