With more than one hundred participants, hundreds of hours of classes, four months of intensive work and almost PLN 1 million in funding - the intensive Polish language course for Ukrainian teachers run by the Faculty of Philology of the University of Gdansk has officially come to an end. On November 25, representatives of the University of Gdańsk, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk, the Pomeranian Teacher Education Centre and the Pomeranian Voivodeship met with course participants to present them with official certificates of completion.

- 'As teachers, you know that education is the most important thing. More important than politics, economics and all the other areas we deal with daily. I am therefore very pleased that we have been able to prepare you to use the Polish language in our schools,' - the Vice-Rector for Students and Quality of Education at UG, dr hab. Arnold Kłonczyński, prof. UG, addressed the Ukrainian teachers. - 'Your knowledge of the Polish language and culture is extremely important to us. We hope that the dialogue generated by this difficult situation will not fade away and will pay off in the future.'

From June to October this year, more than 100 Ukrainian teachers were trained at the Faculty of Philology. The course aimed to prepare them for work in Polish schools. Together, the refugees attended 360 hours of classes over 18 weekends. Most of the meetings took place online, but between August 29 and September 2, the course participants came to the University of Gdańsk for 36 hours of residential classes. The project was funded for nearly PLN 800,000 by the Pomeranian Centre for Teacher Education (CEN).

The newly trained teachers were congratulated by Oleksandr Plodystyi, Consul General of Ukraine in Gdańsk. The diplomat emphasised that the course opens up many new opportunities and wished its participants luck on their further professional paths. Good luck was also wished by a member of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Board Józef Sarnowski and the Director of the Pomeranian Teacher Education Centre Ewa Furche. 

There were also representatives of the Faculty of Philology. The Faculty's Dean, dr hab. Urszula Patocka-Sigłowy, prof. UG, thanked the Pomeranian CEN for its trust and referred to the Fahrenheit Universities' motto 'Together we can do more'. - 'It was every holiday weekend. We are really full of admiration for you because most of you worked from Monday to Friday. I would also like to thank the 22 people from the Faculty of Philology who were involved in this initiative,' - said course coordinator prof. dr hab. Aneta Lewińska from the UG Department of Applied Polonistics.

The ceremony of awarding certificates was also accompanied by artistic performances. At the opening, two female participants of the course sang and performed the song 'Red Kalina' on the piano. In the middle of the event, children from Primary School No. 57 in Gdańsk presented dances as part of the 'Concert with Ukraine in the Background'. 

Certificates of completion of the course were presented by prof. Urszula Patocka-Sigłowy, prof. Arnold Kłonczyński and prof. Aneta Lewińska.

- 'After the course, I plan to continue learning the Polish language. I will also look for a job at a Polish school. I've already worked for three months as a teacher's assistant in a primary school, now I'd like to work as a coach or physical education teacher,' - said Alla Arkypova, a graduate of the course who taught physical education at the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture before the war.