«Children′s safety is our priority»: journalists were shown how shelters are arranged in educational institutions in Mykolaiv

Educational institutions in Mykolaiv continue to set up shelters for schoolchildren for the period of the start of offline education.

Today, October 17, journalists were shown the condition and readiness of two such shelters in Mykolaiv Lyceum and Gymnasium, reports the «NikVesti» correspondent.

Petro Mykhailovych, director of one of the lyceums located in the factory district of the city, said that about 2.5 million hryvnias were allocated for repair work on the shelter, and they were completed within 4 months. Currently, the shelter has about 16 rooms that can accommodate about 600 children.

— Today, the builders have completed their work. In the shelter, repairs were made to the walls, floor, ventilation with heating, toilets in two blocks, and hot running water was installed. We also equipped the shelter with furniture, made a medical station, there is emergency lighting that can work for up to 8 hours, and we also received a diesel generator yesterday. The shelter has access to mobile Internet, a blackboard, and the shelter will also be equipped with televisions for children, — Mykhailo Petrovych said.

According to the director of the lyceum, Mykhailo Petrovych, after Mykolayiv RMA gives approval for offline education, children of the first, second, fifth and eleventh grades must go to school on a permanent basis.

— The Lyceum started the academic year with almost 1.5 thousand students, of which 900 children are in Mykolaiv. The total area of the shelter is 400 m2. Currently, we see that the first and second grades will go to school every day in a mixed form of education. 5th graders who entered the lyceum after primary school also have to go to school every day and 11th graders have to go to school every day. And all transitions - 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 grades will go to school according to the schedule adopted by the lyceum board. According to a survey of parents, in fact 59% of parents are in favour of their children actually being present at lessons, — he said.

Currently, the institution is waiting for the assessment of a special commission, which will decide on the compliance of our shelter with all the necessary conditions.

— But I want to say that this shelter was made as builders would make for their children, so the work was done in good faith. Everything is done so that children can be safe for a certain time when it will be dangerous to conduct the educational process, — he said.

The director of the gymnasium, which is located in the Central district of the city, said that the work on arranging the shelter in their educational institution is still ongoing and is currently 70% complete. The shelter is designed for about 220 people and they are considering expanding the capacity.

— In our educational institution, construction work on the restoration of the storage room continues. Currently, the readiness of the shelter is more than 70% of the planned work, our shelter is designed for approximately 220 people, and we will also look at how much we can expand the place to accommodate more children. Whether we will have face-to-face training depends on the fact that we can accommodate how many children in the storage room. Renovation works are being carried out with high quality, we have finished plastering the walls, we are currently painting them, so we think that the renovation will be finished in November (3 months). The total area of the shelter is 480 meters, there is drinking water here. If training is resumed in an offline format, we will be able to train in one shift, because the warehouse can accommodate at least 220 people, — said the director of the gymnasium, Mykola Anatoliyovych.

According to the information of the city education department, in 38 institutions of general secondary education (59%) there are technical conditions for carrying out repair work followed by the arrangement of the simplest shelters. As of today, shelters are ready in 6 schools. Repair work is ongoing in 16 institutions.

We will remind that 57 educational institutions were allowed to work offline in the Mykolayiv region. Most of them are schools of Voznesensk and Pervomaysk districts. In addition, 94 schools work mixed, that is, children study offline in a certain sequence, for example, one week after another. In addition, 277 educational institutions work online.

Earlier, Vitaii Kim explained that the decision on the offline operation of city schools will be made by the Office of the President and the Ministry of Education.

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. However, later it became known that schools may remain closed for visits, as Mykolaiv is still in the zone of ballistic damage.

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.

Read also the «NikVesti» article «Threats and challenges before the start of the school year: will children return to their desks in Mykolaiv».