The authorities are considering the possibility of merging kindergartens and schools due to problems with shelters

Kindergarten. Archive photo of NikVesti

In the Mykolaiv region, the possibility of merging preschool education institutions with schools is being considered due to the problem of shelters in kindergartens.

Alla Velikhovska, the head of the Department of Education and Science of the Mykolaiv RMA, told about this at the briefing, NikVesti writes.

She explained that in many cases, kindergartens do not have a basement, which makes it impossible to arrange a shelter there.

«The problem, first of all, is that even the project of the kindergarten building did not include a basement. Although these basements exist in schools, and today they are being actively built, kindergartens simply do not have them,» said Alla Velikhovska.

That is why today the administration is considering the option of optimizing preschool education institutions and transferring them to school buildings.

«Part of the building will be occupied by a kindergarten, and part by a school. That is, it creates educational complexes. In fact, these are separate legal entities, but at the same time they are in the same building, provided with the same shelter, food block, etc. And the community itself, for example, can be much easier. Therefore, this type of optimization is taking place today. We are considering all kinds of possibilities,» Alla Velikhovska noted.

Director of the Department of Education and Science Alla Velikhovska. Photo: NikVesti

At the same time, the administration does not yet know how many preschool education institutions will start face-to-face education from September 1. Instead, Alla Velikhovska said that 357 out of 465 kindergartens in the Mykolaiv region today work in different formats.

«We currently have 465 preschool education institutions in our country, in which 23,000 children study, 357 institutions operate remotely, face-to-face or in a mixed format, which is 76.8%. I cannot say which kindergardens will be open in face-to-face format from September 1, because this process is still ongoing. 108 will definitely not work, I know that for sure,» said Alla Velikhovska.

We are talking about preschool education institutions that are under occupation, damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian shelling. According to the data of the Department of Education, 1 kindergarten on Kinburnska Kosa is under occupation in the territory of the Mykolaiv region, 14 institutions were completely destroyed and another 93 were damaged.

We would like to remind you that as of August 2024, about a thousand more shelters need to be installed in educational institutions of the Mykolaiv region. These are kindergartens, schools, universities.

What about children's education in Mykolaiv?

Mykolaiv schoolchildren have been studying online since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. Although the government, with the help of donors and the state, is actively setting up shelters in educational institutions, which sometimes causes indignation among the townspeople.

The refusal of children to go to school is a guarantee of their personal safety, because Mykolaiv is still in the zone of possible ballistic damage from the Russian military, says Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of preparing shelters and resuming education in schools when the Armed Forces move the front line.

Currently, shelters have been installed in 37 educational institutions out of 142 schools and kindergartens in Mykolaiv. At the end of December 2023, the commission recommended the opening of seven more educational institutions with shelters.

In the next few years, the authorities plan to equip 54 shelters in kindergartens, schools and lyceums in Mykolaiv.

We will remind, this year the outflow of students was recorded in the schools of Mykolaiv. Compared to the last academic year, the number of schoolchildren decreased by 3,300. Vitalii Kim, the head of Mykolaiv RMA, explained that the city's schools work online because they are still targets for the Russian army. Vitalii Kim also explained that the decision on the offline operation of the city's schools will be made by the Office of the President and the Ministry of Education.

Where in Mykolaiv Oblast is there offline education?

57 educational institutions were allowed to work offline in the Mykolaiv region. Most of them are schools of Voznesenskyi and Pervomaiskyi districts. In addition, 94 schools work mixed, that is, children study offline in a certain sequence, for example, one week after another. Another 277 educational institutions work online.

It was also possible to organize an offline training process in the front-line Ochakiv, which is still in the zone of damage by the enemy's anti-aircraft missile system. There is a mixed form of education.

According to the monitoring of the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council, 65% of schoolchildren want to study full-time.