The new academic year in Ukraine: 52% of schools in Chernihiv region plan to work full-time, and only 17% in Mykolaiv region.
Despite the war, families return to their homes, and children go to kindergartens and schools. The greatest need for restoring access to education remains the availability of shelters in educational institutions. Shelters make it possible to resume full-time or mixed forms of education, which is extremely important for obtaining quality education and socialization for children, who for the fourth year (first because of COVID-19, and then because of the war) are mostly receiving distance education.
More about the situation in the education sector of Chernihiv Oblast and Mykolaiv Oblast in our material.
Chernihiv Region
52% of schools in the Chernihiv region will return to full-time education in the new academic year. Such data were announced in the regional department of education of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, however, it was noted that these figures are not exact, but projected. For comparison, last academic year only 21% of schools worked offline.
As of September 1, 2023, 395 institutions of general secondary education are planned to begin work, where almost 91,000 students will receive their education. Of them:
- 207 (52%) – full-time;
- 140 (36%) – by mixed form of education;
- 48 (12%) – remotely.
Lyceum in the village of Ripky, Chernihiv Region
Schools in which shelters are deemed suitable are returning to full-time and mixed forms of education. In total, there are 355 institutions of general secondary education (8 of them are currently in the process of arranging shelters). According to the Chernihiv State Administration, during the full-scale war, it was possible to repair 249 school shelters and install 7 modular shelters. Funds for these shelters were provided from the state and local budgets, as well as charitable organizations.
A mandatory condition for returning to full-time education in schools is also the consent of local self-government, pedagogical, and parent teams.
Currently, there are 27 schools in the Chernihiv region that do not have their own or nearby shelters that could be used during air raids. The lack of equipped shelters is the most acute problem in the organization of the educational process, as the regional education department says. Such institutions will study exclusively remotely, regardless of their location.
Distance education is also introduced in educational institutions located in a 20-kilometer zone near the border with the russian federation, these are 23 schools and 18 kindergartens, with a total of almost 2.5 thousand children. During 2022-23, teachers received more than 5,139 laptops in border schools, and students received 1,797 laptops and tablets for learning, reports the Regional State Administration.
As for kindergartens, 324 institutions (81%) plan to start work on September 1, 2023, with 18,728 children enrolled in them. Of them:
- 245 (61%) – full-time;
- 52 (13%) – by mixed form;
- 48 (12%) – remotely.
If necessary educational institutions can switch from one form of education to another during the academic year, Regional Education Department notes.
Mykolaiv Region
In the Mykolaiv region, 429 institutions of general secondary education are preparing to accept students this academic year. They are expected to provide educational services for about 109,000 students.
It should be noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of children in general secondary education institutions of the region has decreased by almost 9.5 thousand (8%).
Arkas Gymnasium, Mykolaiv. Destroyed by four C-300 missles.
Regarding preschool education, as of January 1, 2023, there are 510 preschool institutions, where 26,870 children are already enrolled. This means that almost 91.4% of the child population of the region is in the preschool education system.
Currently, 236 preschool education institutions (46.3%) in 33 territorial communities are operating and providing educational services in the region, in which 9,304 pupils (34.6% of the number enrolled in preschool education institutions) receive education.
Of these, 236 institutions (46.3%) operate in the usual mode, 162 (31.8%) work remotely, and 26 (5.1%) use a mixed approach.
As for the form of education in secondary schools, according to the results of monitoring, 71 (17%) schools chose offline education, 175 (41%) will provide educational services online, and 183 (42%) – mixed.
The process of organizing training also requires important measures. Among them are capital repairs, reconstruction of protective structures and shelters, installation of video surveillance systems, arrangement of security classes, and organization of access regime. In addition, when resuming offline or mixed education format, more than 12 thousand students will need transportation. For this, an additional 128 buses will be needed.
Also, it is important to note that 5,965 (23%) students of education returned to general secondary education institutions from abroad. At the end of the previous academic year, 19,677 (17.7%) students were studying abroad.
As for the teaching staff, at the beginning of the last academic year, 759 teachers were abroad and engaged in educational activities, 224 returned to Ukraine during the year.
