Sienkevych answered why schools are open in Odesa, but not in Mykolaiv

The mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych explained that the city's schools are still working online, unlike Odesa, due to the risk of being hit by ballistic missiles.

The mayor told Odessa journalists of the «Backstage» project about this.

«Today, no one can guarantee the safety of our children. Today, we are within range of ballistic missiles. This means that first it will arrive, and then the siren will be turned on,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

He also explained that it is safer for Odesa schools to work offline than Mykolaiv schools, because in the event of a ballistic missile being launched by the enemy, it will be known in advance, because before then it will fly over Mykolaiv and the territory of the sea.

«Until it reaches Odesa, it (ballistic missile, note) will fly through Mykolaiv, fly over the sea and everyone will understand what has flown. And they can fire at Mykolaiv from the Kherson region and we will be able to start the siren after the explosion. In general, we have such a «trick» that when you hear a siren, there will most likely not be an explosion, and when you hear an explosion, the siren will soon be turned on. That is, the main problem is that today in Mykolaiv, no one can take responsibility: neither a policeman, nor a prosecutor, nor local self-government bodies, nor the head of the regional administration, Vitaly Kim. No one is ready to take responsibility for the lives of other people's children in the state in which it is happening,» explained Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Earlier, the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim explained why schools in Mykolaiv are still working online: educational institutions are targets for the Russian army, because at the beginning of a full-scale war, they usually housed military personnel.

In general, the outflow of students was recorded in the schools of Mykolaiv this year. Compared to the last academic year, the number of schoolchildren decreased by 3,300.

It is worth noting that earlier in response to the information request of NikVesti regarding the criteria that educational institutions of Mykolaiv must meet in order to resume full-time work in the 2023-2024 school year, the city's education department reported: schools will work in accordance with the recommendations of the State Emergency Service and the Sanitary Regulations approved by the Ministry Health Care. The first is the availability of shelter, and the second is drinking water at school.

Earlier it was reported that in Mykolaiv from September they plan to open about 13 schools for offline education. In some educational institutions, parents will be able to choose whether to send their children to study or stay online at home. According to the monitoring of the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council, 65% of schoolchildren want to study full-time.

For the beginning of the academic year, the Department of Education of the City Council announces tenders for placement in shelter schools in an offline format. Yes, the shelter in school No. 23 will be repaired for 2.2 million hryvnias, and in Lyceum No. 58 for 2.6 million hryvnias.

At the same time, the publication «Ukrainian Pravda» together with the savED fund, as part of the «To school again» campaign, announced a fundraiser for the construction of a shelter for the Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55, which in the new academic year should become a key school in the city district.