Belarusian teaches robotics and programming to children of emigrants in Poland
"Too qualified to work as an ordinary teacher."
Illustrative photo: Gusstavo Fring / Pexels.com
Vadzim Kruchkou teaches mathematics and programming to children of emigrants, so that they preserve their language and do not lose interest in subjects at school. In parallel, the Belarusian develops a community of Belarusian teachers in Poland and dreams of creating an online robotics school. Vadzim told Most how he managed to return to his profession after emigration.
In Belarus, Vadzim mainly taught robotics as a tutor, but also gave lessons in logic and physics to primary school students.
— I did quite large-scale projects. For example, I organized robotics competitions for 2.5 thousand people, and also took our robotics teams to Costa Rica, India, and Qatar, — he recalls.
The Belarusian moved to Poland in the spring of 2022. The emigration took place in rather quick and chaotic conditions, but Vadzim had a preliminary agreement with the director of one of the online schools — so he wasn't too worried about finding a job.
— I called the HRs, but after a day or two they replied that they couldn't offer me anything. Why — it was unclear. I contacted the director again to clarify what I needed to improve in my resume. It turned out that I was too qualified to work as an ordinary teacher for them.
Vadzim tried to negotiate with the school: he said that cooperation could be useful for him too. The teacher wanted to learn Python, and also start teaching in English. But it didn't work out — the tutor was not hired by the online school.
"I received about 200 rubles — not an amount you can live on in Poland"
Then Vadzim went to work in delivery, and in parallel began to think about how to return to his profession. He tried publishing ads in emigrant Facebook groups and Telegram chats, but received almost no responses.
— Money was gradually running out. For a few more months, I received about 200 rubles from online lessons with Belarusians, but that's not an amount you can live on in Poland. I didn't know what to do, it was very difficult.
Then, on the advice of an acquaintance, Vadzim simplified the recruitment scheme so that potential students could sign up for a trial lesson through a form without prior contact with the tutor. This worked: people started taking slots. After a free trial lesson, about 40% of clients continued to study.
"In America, the main goal is not mathematics, but language"
Now Vadzim conducts both individual and group classes. He teaches Belarusian children living in Poland. But he also works with a Texas school that offers classes in Russian to preserve the language among second-generation emigrants.
Russian-speaking emigrants living in Great Britain, Lithuania, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Spain also turn to Vadzim. Depending on the country, the requests with which students come to the tutor differ.
— In America, the main goal is not mathematics or programming itself, but language. But this is packaged in such an educational format: if you learn something new — good, if you don't — it's still good.
"In a Polish lyceum, a child studies almost second-year BSUIR higher mathematics"
In Poland, Vadzim notes, the situation looks different: the peculiarities of the school mathematics curriculum affect it. In his opinion, up to the eighth grade, the subject is taught quite modestly, even compared to Belarus or Ukraine.
— Some parents turn to me to help them not lose the level that was achieved in Belarus. Many Belarusian children, after transferring to Polish schools, get higher grades and participate in olympiads — at a certain point, they simply become uninterested in studying what they already know.
They also turn to Vadzim when there is a need to enter a Polish lyceum. It is there that the workload increases.
— In the fourth year of lyceum, a child studies almost second-year BSUIR higher mathematics. That is, you only start to really work hard in lyceum. But getting in there is difficult — you need to take additional classes somewhere from the seventh or eighth grade.
"In Poland, robotics is not perceived as a path to the future"
Vadzim notes that in Poland, the demand for robotics among students is lower compared to Belarus. The teacher believes that this is due to career prospects, because in Belarus, one of the main opportunities to earn money is to go into the IT field or engineering.
— Before Poland, I didn't even teach school mathematics. But here I had to retrain, because the subject is more in demand than programming or robotics. In Poland, a child can go into medicine, literature, or business — and still earn good money. Here, robotics is not perceived as a path to the future — it's an additional developmental activity on par with swimming.
Despite this, Vadzim dreams of building an online robotics school together with like-minded people.
"I am almost the most expensive tutor in my community"
In parallel with tutoring, Vadzim actively participates in the community of Belarusian teachers in Poland: he organizes webinars, administers a thematic Telegram channel, and holds offline conferences.
Communicating with teachers, the Belarusian concludes that the main problems they face are the difficulty of returning to the profession after emigration. Some cannot confirm their diplomas, others lack the language skills to teach in Polish educational institutions, and still others work through incubators that take an additional percentage.
— Many teachers value their work very cheaply, because they are accustomed to orienting themselves towards the Belarusian market. I am not among them, on the contrary, I am almost the most expensive tutor in my community, — Vadzim laughs. — My individual work time with a student costs 160 zlotys — that's very expensive. But you have to understand that in this amount I include preparation for classes, checking homework, and materials.
"It's getting harder to recruit students every year"
According to Vadzim, despite the problems, opportunities to stay in the educational sphere still exist.
— Indeed, it's getting harder to recruit students every year. Maybe in another year or two — and I won't find them: I'll have to switch to English and Polish. For Belarusian teachers, I see other options to stay in the field. For example, you can prepare for International Baccalaureate exams — that is very valued now. Or prepare for British or American exams.
Vadzim recalls how he helped one of his students prepare for a math exam in Spanish. The Belarusian, like his student, did not know the language — they translated and analyzed the terms in the problems together.
— I showed the student how, without knowing half the meaning, you can still solve the problem. I try to position myself so that children look at me and understand: I am not some universal mind who knows everything, but also, like them, I make mistakes. When students see this, their trust immediately grows — after that, the children themselves stop being afraid of mistakes in their work, — Vadzim is confident.