School woes
Austria is missing a huge opportunity by viewing Ukrainian children and teens solely through the lens of "how much German do they know".
Of all the topics we discuss in the context of Ukrainian refugees trying to put together new lives in Europe while war continues at home, the topic of education is, for me personally, as a mom of three teens, the most painful. I dread every text message which starts with the phrasing “my daughter is 15” or “my son is 16” because I know I will have to be the bearer of bad news.
Simply put, and it took me a year and a half to fully synthesise this very simple conclusion: the Austrian school system uses only one criterium when evaluating if a child will be given a chance at continuing an academically-challenging school education, and the older the child, the harder it becomes. That criterium is knowledge of the German language. Which, surely, one could argue, is a logical thing, in a German-speaking country. But not everyone gets to move here when they are five and have a chance to pick it up in kindergarten. War meant some kids came here with the age of 15 with no advance preparation. They may be geniuses in Ukrainian, math, science, but unfortunately here in Austria, it is their German language skills and those alone which determine whether or not they are offered a place in a school which would be intellectually challenging for them.
Then, because it is Austria, there is another bureaucratic hurdle: Schulpflicht or the law which says a child must attend school, is lifted here with the tender age of 15, meaning no schools have to accept Ukrainian kids after this age. In short — you can be a very smart Ukrainian kid of 16 with less than perfect German because you have only been studying it since you moved here one year ago, and you will therefore likely not be offered a place in any gymnasium or HTL which would give you a path to Matura (challenging, Austrian version of a high school diploma), which you would need to go to university. Hence, there are plenty of older Ukrainian teens lost in a system that does not think they can master German at a level necessary to pass Matura and therefore does not want to “risk” giving them school places (school directors generally do not want to take on students in the last years of high school who they see as being at risk of not passing all final exams). So these older teens continue to do Ukrainian school online, but this ends after grade 11, while trying to figure out what is the most efficient path to being able to apply to study in university here in Austria. Find a university place in Ukraine and then “transfer” to Austria? Focus on intense German language courses (at one’s own expense, as the level needed is likely not covered by ÖIF) to apply directly to Austrian universities with a Ukrainian high school diploma?
If you think this is complicated, let’s talk for a minute about those kids 15+ who are not academically inclined. They do not, actually, legally, have to do anything. Schools do not have to take them, they do not have to be “busy” with learning a trade like local residents of Austria do until age 18, and therefore they are left entirely to their own devices. In a new country, traumatised by war. Often with moms who are equally traumatised and equally incapable of guiding them forward.
I have this horrific vision of a lost generation of kids, some of whom who speak several languages and are talented in math and science, and yet because of an inflexible, outdated education system which was never designed for children coming into the system without native German skills, many Ukrainian kids will simply not be able to reach their full potential here.
For younger children, there is, if they are lucky, the chance to study in classrooms alongside native speakers of German, and in these cases, adaptation will be faster. The younger, the better things look. Likewise for those in rural areas, as Ukrainian kids are more likely in these areas to be placed in “normal” classrooms alongside native German speakers. Paradoxically, things are harder in Vienna, as the city is already struggling to educate large numbers of children who do not speak German at home. For those unlucky students placed in “integration” classes in elementary and middle schools, classrooms filled by students who all don’t speak German well, they are often losing precious time and learning little, from what their mothers tell me. All other learning is put on hold until the German language is mastered, and how one can master German while being surrounded by children who all don’t speak German well, that is anyone’s guess. The infamous “MIKA-D” German test to move from an “integration” to a “normal” classroom is oral, subjective, administered at the school level and Ukrainian parents are not given any study materials to help their children prepare for these tests.
The Austrian education system also has a terrible (imho) historic practice of holding kids back a grade when a child fails a single subject. Ukrainians are often told their child must repeat a year they just did. They are often not graded during that first year. All of this leads to a decline in the child’s motivation to learn and lost time. By under-challenging rather than over-challenging new arrivals, the system here blocks immigrant children from accessing the same education as locals. Yet it seems terribly short-sighted to judge a child’s intelligence on the basis of their German language skills alone. Imagine how many brilliant mathematicians and future scientists could be overlooked in the process.
I am left telling parents: you have to find schools on your own, you have to convince that individual school that your child is capable and worth taking a chance on, there is no central ministry or administrative body which will do this for you when your child is 15 or older. You are entirely on your own if you want to pursue academic options. The “system” is happy to explain to immigrant parents how your child can learn to be a plumber, let’s say for sake of argument, but is less inclined to help you figure out how to apply for medical school.
This is a horrible message to have to deliver every day. “Oh, and please don’t drop out of Ukrainian online school. Stay in it so your child will have a diploma and therefore a path to university.” No easy ask of teens who have already been through so much.
The east of Austria went back to school last Monday, the rest of the country returned today. My inbox has been filled with lots of drama, but I share one family’s story in translation because Veronika, the mother, gave me her permission (she also gave an interview to a TV crew but they unfortunately reportedly showed up without a translator despite me saying explicitly you need a translator), and I think it is illustrative of the most frustrating aspects of the educational system here and how it deals with non-native speakers of German.
“I would like to share my story. I arrived in Austria with my son and my daughter at the end of March 2022. We lived for a month not far from Wiener Neustadt. They told us that our children must attend school here and we found them a place in a gymnasium in Wiener Neustadt. My son continued his Ukrainian school online and finished 5th grade, but my daughter could not continue her education in her college, because in her speciality you need to attend in person. Before my daughter enrolled in college in Ukraine, she completed nine years of school with good grades. After one month, we moved to Tulln and I immediately asked the education department where my children could attend school in Austria. It was impossible to get into a gymnasium in Tulln. They gave my son a place in (Neu Mittel Schule, name removed by Tanja), and my daughter a place in (Fachschule, name removed by Tanja).
My children did not have German language in Ukraine and therefore were totally dependent on the Austrian education system in this regard. Of course an unexpected, unplanned move was a very huge stress for both of my kids. Despite this, my daughter immediately tried to study well. For my son, the change of country and language of study was a big shock. For the academic year 2022-23, the children were told to repeat the school year. The level and status of the school was also important for my kids. They used to attend one of the best schools in Odesa. My daughter was understanding about these changes, for my son this was another stress factor and he felt depressed. The teachers in the Austrian school recommended that we give up on Ukrainian online school, which we did. Last year, my son only attended Austrian school, but he totally lost his motivation to learn, despite the fact that he was a good student in Ukraine. I saw that it was difficult for him to learn German, but I could not help him myself. For a long time I could not get a place in a German course as there were no free spaces, and I was only given a place in March of this year. I did not have the financial means of hiring an individual tutor, and so I was totally dependent ont he school to help him. Last year, my son was in an “integration” class with Ukrainian kids of different ages. They were in this class each day for four hours, and then they were taken to join Austrian students in classes, for art and P.E. My son loves math, but they did not let him join the math lessons. Then I learned from Ukrainians in his class that those who made progress with German were then invited to attend math and English lessons with the Austrians. I only learned about this one month before school ended and also asked that my son be allowed to attend these lessons. He really likes math, and English to learn from German was a challenge even though he had English in Ukraine.
At the end of the academic year, they called in all the parents of Ukrainian kids and gave us individual consultations and said our children would be moved to the next grade level. This was really important to give the kids some motivation and the desire to keep studying. The teacher also said my son could not stay in 1st grade NMS (5th grade) for another year due to his age. When we came to school on September 4, we were told that all the kids will be put in 1st grade NMS, again, but not with Austrian kids, again in the “integration” class, with kids the same age. Last year there were 16 kids in the class. Now there are 29! They don’t even have enough seats and desks for everyone. They promised us that they will also teach math and English in the “integration” class. But this means the kids will again be deprived of being surrounded by German speakers and they again will not receive grades. My son only now accepted finally that he must learn German. I found a Ukrainian teacher to work with him online, too. I also now know some German and can help him. He is a smart and capable boy, but he needed time to morally accept the new situation and he needs time to learn German. I am not worried that he cannot manage the school program. Now I am in this really unclear situation and I do not know what to do.
If my son for now cannot receive knowledge in the Austrian school, then maybe we should continue online in the Ukrainian school, and learn German alongside, so that my sone doesn’t lose his knowledge base? But according to Austrian law he has to attend school here. It is of course a lot of work for the kids to have to study in two schools at once, and the Ukrainian school has a harder academic program. And therefore the question arises: if the child finishes 9 grades of Ukrainian school online and attends Austrian school but is left for 2-3 years in the same grade, will the Ukrainian diploma then be enough for further education and work? We could do the Austrian program at home, if we knew what topics to cover. We understand that we would like to stay in Austria and I am doing everything possible to help my kids integrate. But now I do not know what to do and if I should return my son to Ukrainian online school (Tanja’s note — Veronika signed both kids back up a few days later). The director and teachers of the NMS cite an order from the education ministry. Several moms and I went to the school director. The next day they tested the children. My son said the test was hard for him. After the test, they moved one boy to join the Austrian kids in 1st grade. The fate of our children is unclear, and studying in the integration class is not having any results so far.
The situation with my daughter is also really strange. On September 2, the school director called us in and said that my daughter must repeat the first year again. In her case, she wanted to stay in first grade and hoped she would be graded this year and then she could take exams and receive grades. She did all the written work last year and this year wanted to focus on her spoken German. On 4 September, she came to school and she was told she must go to the second grade as there are a lot of kids in the first grade and there is no place for her. So then the question arises, how can she complete the first grade work if she is in the second grade? So then she is losing time, too. Last year she turned down German classes from ÖIF in order to continue this education, but she didn’t know it would be so complicated. Unfortunately, we only now learned there is a possibility to study alongside work from AMS. No one told us this was possible from the beginning. My daughter is a talented make-up artist and would like to develop herself in the sphere of beauty services. Given this situation, she will leave the school and go to AMS and ask if they can test her level of German knowledge. If we had known about this possibility, my daughter would not have lost a year’s time, and would have instead attended intensive German language classes and would have tried to get a job or study in her area of interest.
In the future, my daughter dreams of opening a beauty school in which she would teach how to do make-up, hairstyles, how to style one’s clothes, and how to pose for photos. We always mentioned this first when we talked with advisors, but no one told us about any other options. I feel like a blind kitty in Austria, despite the fact that I have a master’s degree in economics and a lot of life experience.”
This is just one mother’s story. Now multiply this times thousands. No one expected war. No one expected to have to move to a new country and put their kids in school in a new language. For the younger children, the transition is relatively smooth. They have the advantage of time on their side. For older teens, it is really stressful and there is still not a single place or website I can point parents to and say “here is everything you need to know”. Yes, they translated a nearly hundred page document describing the Austrian school system into Ukrainian, which I do share with parents, but it does not included the concrete steps for applying and being accepted to schools. Of course I understand that schools are overwhelmed with their ordinary day to day, and having to incorporate a large number of Ukrainian students who do not know German well yet is a huge strain on the whole education system.
But it strikes me that after one and a half years, frankly, we should be in a better place. I should know which direction to send parents of older teens, and no, we should not be fixing individual cases on a case-by-case basis. That is one of the biggest issues I have here. We need transparent, systemic solutions where we can point everyone to a single set of guidelines or online resource to help them uncover what is available in their geographic region. If anyone is responsible for the Ukrainian question within the education ministry, they haven’t made themselves very visible. I see this as a huge missed opportunity for Austria. Just think about how many smart kids are floating right now, who could one day go on to do great things here. It is a shame that more creative programs have not been introduced to transition these Ukrainian teens from finishing school, providing them with a solid knowledge of German, and getting them into higher education here in Austria. Likewise, we should have more than just AMS (job center) to advise parents of perhaps not-so-academic teens.
Clear, transparent information with links and contact information is step one. At the moment, it is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Those who successfully enrolled their children in good Austrian schools nearly universally had the help of local Austrians lobbying on their behalf, writing emails, and making phone calls. It should not have to be this way. I know there were groups early on who tried hard to make a sort of Ukrainian high school in Vienna, and it is my understanding that this model was ultimately not fully approved by whichever bureaucrats from the education ministry decide on such things.
A shame more creative solutions have not been considered so far for what is a surely extraordinary situation but one which could lead down the road for very positive results for Austria should investments in these teens be made now.