Study engineering in English at a major Belgian university. Mykyta, a Ukrainian teenager forced to flee the war with his family, would never have thought of such a future project three months ago.
This 17-year-old young man is one of 22 Ukrainians currently enrolled in a reception class for “newcomers” at the Technov technical education high school in Vilvoorde, in the Dutch-speaking suburbs of Brussels.
If some comrades are already thinking only of returning to the country, as soon as the situation allows it, he is preparing for higher studies in Belgium. And wants to improve his English to integrate a program in this language at the Catholic University of Louvain (KU Leuven), which welcomes many foreign students.
“I want to go to university at the end of this year, take an engineering course, maybe in electricity”, explains Mykyta to AFP. “The level of studies is higher than in Ukraine”, he adds.
On vacation in Egypt with his parents and his sister when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the teenager never set foot in kyiv, his hometown.
His father first accompanied the family to Belgium, before returning to Ukraine in March, he says. His mother and sister hope to find him this summer, while Mykyta plans to find a student job that will allow him to afford a room in Belgium. And to leave his uncle and aunt with whom he is currently staying.
“Making Waffles”
“Most Ukrainians are there with their mothers, in general the fathers and brothers stayed in the country”, explains Marc Deldime, director of Technov.
This Catholic establishment has been hosting so-called bridge classes for twenty years, which reserve for foreigners who have just arrived one year of intensive learning of the local language – Dutch in this case – the condition for then joining classical education.
The school, which currently educates 60 foreign children out of a total of around 430 students, is used to hearing the echo of global crises resounding within its walls, that of the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, before Ukraine.
The teachers of the reception classes are trained to detect the signs of trauma still present in children, and can call on psychologists if necessary, underlines Mr. Deldime.
For now, assures the director, Ukrainian children “feel good, the school allows them to forget the war a little”. “And in this group of 22 they are always together and can exchange in their language, share their feelings, it is very important”.
Next to Mykyta, Lisa, 14, recounts the same impossible return to Ukraine following a holiday abroad in February-March, and the hasty arrival in Belgium, where her father was able to benefit from the help of ‘friends.
And if in her case it is too early to talk regarding higher education, she dreams of landing the first summer job of her life in Belgium. “I would see myself as a waitress in a café, preparing waffles or ice cream”, drop the teenager.