Syrian teacher’s journey a lesson in endurance

FÜRSTENWALDE: Working at a German school is not just about reading and writing, maths and singing songs, says newly-minted Syrian assistant teacher Hend alKhabbaz.

She was surprised to discover there is also a mountain of paperwork and administrative tasks to perform.

The school “is better for the children, but it’s a lot of work for the teachers”, the 35-year-old says with a laugh, speaking in German, which she learnt since fleeing her war-torn homeland less than three years ago.

Khabbaz’s new workplace is the Sigmund Jaehn primary school here, a town of drab prefabricated housing blocks in Germany’s formerly communist east, 60km from Berlin.

That’s 3,500km from the home she left in Homs, Syria, where she taught English before boarding an overcrowded boat to Europe.

While Germany has struggled to integrate newcomers, Khabbaz got a lucky break and through her hard work now has a full-time job in her profession.

She is one of the first graduates of Potsdam University’s pioneering Refugee Teachers Programme, which readies foreign teachers to enter the German school system.

Principal Ines Tesch explains that the refugee children “still struggle with the specialised language of biology or physics”.

“But no one has ever dared to say a thing about al-Khabbaz,”

“But I know I would probably have problems with some parents if she wore a Muslim face veil.”