Ukraine鈥檚 wartime schools: Intensity, purpose, and an eye to safety
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Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
| MAKARIV, Ukraine
As a rising first grader, Masha Komarova was anxious to start school and make new friends in her new home in Makariv, a village about an hour west of Kyiv.
There was just one problem: Masha and her family had arrived in April from Kherson in southeastern Ukraine, a city now occupied by Russian forces. And in Kherson, Masha spoke Russian and was preparing for first grade subjects that would be taught in Russian.
But in Makariv 鈥� a town that suffered heavy Russian shelling for a month at the start of the war and was partially occupied but never fell to the aggressors 鈥� school instruction is strictly in Ukrainian.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused on鈥淪chool safety鈥� is a buzzword everywhere, more so in a country at war. Yet as Ukraine launches a new school year, the war has also sharpened a seriousness of purpose 鈥� among educators and students alike.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on the Ukrainian all summer, and she鈥檚 got it to where she鈥檒l be fine with it,鈥� says her mother, Anastasiia Komarova. While her mother speaks, Masha jumps around the steps to her new school, Makariv Lyceum No. 2, the Ukrainian national symbol on her T-shirt and an orange sucker in one hand.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a little tough; there are words she doesn鈥檛 understand,鈥� Ms. Komarova adds, 鈥渂ut she has the child鈥檚 ability to learn fast.鈥�
As an estimated 4 million Ukrainian children started a new school year Thursday, there was much that was new about this opening day of school with the country at war.
In-school learning can only take place in buildings with bomb shelters, or with an accessible bomb shelter immediately adjacent. More time will be dedicated to safety education and to what school staff call 鈥減sychological first aid鈥� 鈥� class discussions on dealing with the stresses the war brings, and allowance made for individual consultations with beefed-up school psychologist staffs.
A few instructional hubs have been set up to allow teachers displaced from the hottest conflict zones in the east and south to continue working remotely with their same students, including those still living in occupied areas.
The national course syllabus has been tweaked, as well: more Ukrainian history in history classes; and, in world literature, out with the likes of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, in with Hemingway and Jack London.
鈥淣ew motivation鈥�
But perhaps most important of all, some of the country鈥檚 educators say, is a new sense of purpose for this school year.
鈥淭he message I鈥檓 getting from my students is that they really want to get back to school and get an education to use in the future,鈥� says Marko, who asked that his last name not be used, a primary and secondary English and geography teacher in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The central Ukraine region is now home to thousands who have been displaced within the country.
The war has provided 鈥渁 new motivation for students to study hard and find a profession where they can do something good to rehabilitate and renew the country,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey want to use all they鈥檙e learning in school to help people.鈥�
In Kyiv Thursday morning, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded a serious but similar note, addressing Ukraine鈥檚 schoolchildren on television from a sunny hilltop overlooking the city.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 Sept. 1 is very different from the 30 previous ones鈥� in Ukraine鈥檚 history as an independent country, he said. The Russian invaders 鈥渟tole part of your childhood, part of your youth,鈥� the president said, 鈥渂ut you are free. You always will be. So be worthy of your freedom,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd of our Ukraine.鈥�
At Ukraine鈥檚 Ministry of Education, officials say that while the war has brought many changes, the basics of the national endeavor to provide children with an education remain the same.
鈥淯nfortunately we have had to add such things as 鈥榮afety from mines鈥� to the topics of instruction,鈥� says Andrii Vitrenko, Ukraine鈥檚 deputy minister of education. 鈥淏ut we are seeing that children want to study and learn; it is our task to make it possible to fulfill those dreams.鈥�
The ministry says that less than a half-million of Ukraine鈥檚 prewar student population of 4.2 million have left the country, with some of those who have fled with their families to neighboring countries signed up to 鈥渁ttend鈥� their Ukrainian schooling online.
Accommodations for all
Officials are confident that the three-tiered education system they developed for this year 鈥� some of Ukraine鈥檚 roughly 13,000 schools will be online only, some with only in-school instruction, and some a hybrid of the two 鈥� will accommodate all students from kindergarten to high school.
Clad in an olive-drab T-shirt he admits with a smile follows a 鈥減recedent鈥� set by President Zelenskyy, Mr. Vitrenko says Russia鈥檚 invasion provided Ukrainians with another lesson about education.
鈥淲hat we learned is that most of the Russian soldiers who came here with this war don鈥檛 even have a midlevel education,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat gives us even more reason to educate our children鈥� to be better people.
In the capital, Kyiv, officials say the city has worked hard to make sure all children 鈥� both city residents and the thousands who have been displaced and have settled with their families here 鈥� are 鈥渋n school鈥� with either in-person or online classes.
But no priority has topped that of guaranteeing the security of children and school staffs this new school year with the country at war, Kyiv education officials say.
At a press conference this week in Kyiv鈥檚 first-through-11th-grade Millennium School, officials invited journalists to the school鈥檚 bomb shelter to underscore the city鈥檚 twin goals of accommodating as many students as possible in school buildings 鈥� what they call 鈥渙ffline鈥� education 鈥� while keeping everyone safe. 聽聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e put all of our resources into assuring the safety of our children,鈥� says Valentin Mondriivskyi, deputy head of the Kyiv city administration. Noting at the same time that the city expects nearly 80% of this year鈥檚 estimated 178,000 student population to opt for in-school learning, he adds, 鈥淭his tells us how important the offline system is for a good education鈥� in the eyes of parents, students, and teachers.
Highlighting the underground space鈥檚 art tables for younger children and discussion circles for older students, Mr. Mondriivskyi says, 鈥淲e want to make these shelters not a territory of fear, but a place of learning and development.鈥�
A place for those displaced
Given its resources and isolation from the front lines, the Kyiv school district is one of the more unscathed by the war. But even here, numbers reveal a shrunken system that at the same time must adapt to accommodating a new student population 鈥� those internally displaced.
The city鈥檚 anticipated student population of 178,000 is down sharply from last year鈥檚 300,000. But included this year will be about 3,800 students displaced from the war鈥檚 hotter conflict zones 鈥� although officials say they expect that number to rise as the school year progresses.
Mirroring the student population decline, the city鈥檚 total number of teachers and school staff members is also down considerably, from 77,000 last year to 57,000 this year 鈥� declines that hint at the millions who have left the country seeking refuge from the war.
But in many other parts of the country, particularly in the east and closer to the front lines, the new school year is much more precarious.
Some regions, or oblasts, have decided to offer classes online only 鈥� for the safety of students and staff, but also because many school buildings are still being used as shelters for those internally displaced 鈥� a population the United Nations鈥� International Organization for Migration estimates at 6.9 million and still growing.
In a recent study, the聽International Organization for Migration found that at the beginning of July, nearly 1 million Ukrainians were living in 5,670 鈥渃ollective sites鈥� across the country, with schools, kindergartens, and student dormitories making up nearly three-quarters of those facilities.
And some schools are still being repaired after being damaged by Russian fire.
In Makariv, the town鈥檚 Lyceum No. 1 is being restored, brick by brick, from the artillery shelling it took in March.
鈥淥f course the building can be rebuilt, but the children who were traumatized by having their school attacked in this way are going to need special attention,鈥� says Natalya Kochkur, the school鈥檚 director.
Noting that two of the school鈥檚 students were killed in the shelling of Makariv, while two of the school鈥檚 graduates have died on the front lines, she says, 鈥淥ur teachers are ready to educate our children and prepare their future.鈥�
Of the fallen graduates, she adds, 鈥淲e could say they died for this 鈥� for a peaceful and free Ukraine.鈥�
Trade-offs
Yet not all of Makariv鈥檚 displaced families say they are finding the kind of 鈥渨e鈥檙e in this together鈥� spirit that officials talk about.
鈥淚 went to the school, but what I heard was a lot of bureaucracy and administrative things,鈥� says Marie Zavrazhna, who arrived in Makariv with her two children this summer from the embattled region of Kharkiv. While daughter Varvara will follow her design courses online, son Ilya is entering the third grade in Makariv.
Yet even though Ms. Zavrazhna worries that overloaded school staff won鈥檛 have the time to receive Ilya 鈥渋n a good and friendly way,鈥� she says it will still be better than the stress of keeping children where the war is a threat every day. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
Indeed, in some of the country鈥檚 occupied areas, Ukrainian education officials are in what some are calling a 鈥渉earts and minds鈥� battle with Russian occupiers for those areas鈥� students and parents. Ukrainian officials are doing their best to make classes available online, while occupying Russian authorities are encouraging children to attend schools that will use a Russian instruction syllabus.
In the occupied city of Kherson, Russian officials are reportedly offering families new school uniforms, books, and other supplies if their children will attend school. Ukrainian forces this week launched an anticipated counteroffensive to free the city.
Kherson refugee Ms. Komarova says she鈥檚 heard about the Russians offering families 10,000 rubles to send their children to Russianized schools, but she doesn鈥檛 know of anyone taking the offer.
She鈥檚 been too focused on getting Masha settled in her new environment.
鈥淪ince the beginning of the war, it seems like life has been put on a bit of a pause,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel like if Masha goes to school, it will be something like normal again.鈥�
Oleksandr Naselenko supported reporting for this story.
