A few points emerge from the internal evidence of the article. The young woman was struggling with the A levels she had chosen. It isn’t clear whether this was the result of a lack of academic ability or because of language problems. The college tried to handle this situation by recommending to her that she take a Russian A level. The young woman describes this as a “hurtful, insensitive and racist”. Apparently, her father is serving in the Ukrainian army; “It’s not a language I want to speak or study because my father became a soldier last year”.
The Guardian journalist uses a standard liberal media template. The subject of the story is treated ‘sensitively’ and ‘respectfully’, regardless of how idiotic the story is. Her story is told and her point of view broadcast. The journalist mentions some context; some UK based Ukrainians have been lobbying the government to introduce a Ukrainian A-level. (Fair enough). And then coyly admits: “amid reports they [Ukrainian students] are instead being pressed to study Russian because many can already speak some of the language”.
As readers of this site will be aware, I am a fan of Ivan Illich, from which it follows that I am not a fan of ‘A-levels’ – a dreary competitive machine for sorting teenagers into winners and losers. Nonetheless; if you have such a system, one can see the reality; you can’t just give them away, because students are struggling. We all want some empathy; “Rather than offering empathy or help, they continued to insist that I change subjects”. But, an A-level is an A-level and they can’t be discounted on the basis of a call for ’empathy’. The young Ukrainian woman, (a 19 year old adult), has certainly learned how to play the empathy card in her short time in the UK. However; she doesn’t appear to have been here long enough to understand that the point about the “compassion” dialogue is to sweeten the system. Nothing actually changes underneath.
As someone who has worked in the UK education sector I can offer the following clarification, which the Guardian’s Rachel Hall seems to miss. Colleges and schools often suggest that Ukrainian teenagers take a Russian A-level. It is an easy win for them. This has been the case for a long time. What the College did in this case is nothing other than standard practice. Nothing “racist” about it.
A few other clarifications might be in order. Russian is very widely spoken in Ukraine. Indeed it is Zelensky’s first language. [1] It is anecdotal, but I would say of the news clips I have seen from the Ukrainian front-lines about half of the Ukrainian soldiers are speaking Russian. Also, anecdotal; I have worked in UK language Summer Schools for the last two years. In the first year we had two groups of Ukrainian teenagers stay at the camp. These were teenagers who were living in the UK as refugees. Last year, we had a group from Ukraine. All these groups spoke Russian. The first two spoke Russian all the time. (I am just not sure about the group from Ukraine, because I had less contact with them; but they were certainly speaking Russian when I was around them). Before the war, Russian was widely spoken in Ukraine, not just in the East, with its significant ethnic Russian minority, but also in Kiev. Rachel Hall’s, “because many can already speak some of the language [Russian}”, is a hoax. For many it is the preferred language, and one they speak fluently. Even teenagers. Even refugees from the war.
The article intertwines a hoax about how some Ukrainians speak “some” Russian, with a classic liberal victim story. In terms of the language hoax; yes – no doubt some Ukrainians in the UK are promoting the Ukrainian language. This may be partly genuine – and I completely sympathise with them; why not have a Ukrainian A-Level. But, one suspects also partly, for show. After all their comfortable, subsidised lives in the UK depend on certain perceptions about “Russian invasions”.
Notes