A 19-year-old Ukrainian who moved to the UK because of the war in Ukraine Kateryna Endeberia was forced to leave her local college. She says teachers tried to convince her to learn Russian.
The story of the girl is told by The Guardian.
Kateryna moved to the British city of Stoke-on-Trent in 2022. The following year, she took her GCSE exams at high school, and then completed a preparatory year at a local college, where she studied economics, politics, and statistics in order to take her A-level exams for university entrance.
Kateryna said she struggled with her A-levels and complained about being bullied because of her accent. However, her teachers did not support her and instead tried to convince her to change her subjects to Russian.
The girlʼs father is currently serving in the military. She herself considers the proposal "insulting and tactless" and compares it to "discrimination and racism".
According to her, studying Russian goes against her personal principles, because Kateryna was born in Donetsk.
"Itʼs not a language I want to speak or learn because my father joined the military last year," the girl emphasized.
So the Ukrainian woman dropped out of college and is now homeschooling, using notes shared with her by friends. She has applied to sit her A-levels in 2026 as a private candidate, which will cost her £1 400 (approximately UAH 70 000) which would otherwise be covered by the state.
At the same time, Kateryna emphasizes that she is grateful for the opportunity to study in the UK, but "not everyone realizes how difficult it is for Ukrainian students to adapt to the new educational system, culture, and language after everything our country has gone through".
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