Shelters were arranged in 30% of Mykolaiv schools

Shelter in one of Mykolaiv schools, archival photo of NikVesti

As of February 2024, shelters were installed in 31% of schools in Mykolaiv. There are 21 institutions of general secondary education: 10 lyceums and 11 gymnasiums.

This is stated in the article «Shelter in schools: how will the experience of a Ukrainian woman be useful to Mykolaiv» by NikVesti.

According to the education department of the Mykolaiv City Council, two more institutions are currently nearing the end of their work. In addition, by the end of 2024, it is planned to equip shelters in seven schools.

Usually, Mykolaiv schools do not have anti-radiation shelters or bomb shelters, so basements are converted into shelters. After the necessary improvements and repairs, they receive the status of the simplest shelters, that is, where children and educators can stay during air raids.

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The works are financed at the expense of the city budget and donors. In particular:

• the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged the simplest shelters in two institutions;
• the French humanitarian organization ACTED repaired a shelter in one of the city's lyceums;
• the international humanitarian organization Save the Children conducts work in one of the gymnasiums and plans to arrange shelters in four more;
• the SavED charitable foundation has provided shelter in two institutions and is conducting work in one more;
• UNICEF equipped shelters in two lyceums and gymnasiums.

Unfortunately, not all schools in the city have suitable basements. According to the requirements of the State Emergency Service, in such cases shelters can be arranged on the basement or first floor, provided that enclosing building structures are installed.

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 you that 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. Vitaliy 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.