Children from the de-occupied communities of the Mykolaiv region will go to other schools for full-time education

Dismantling of the lyceum in Pervomaiske, Mykolaiv Oblast, archival photo of NikVesti

Children who live in the de-occupied part of the Mykolaiv region will not be able to study full-time in local schools. For this, they will need to go to other regions of the region.

Alla Velikhovska, the director of the Department of Education and Science of the Mykolaiv University of Applied Sciences, announced this during a briefing on August 8, NikVesti writes.

According to her, in the six communities that were under occupation and on the line of confrontation in 2022, there is not a single surviving educational institution. Therefore, it is impossible to restore face-to-face education in these communities.

«Work on their restoration is being carried out, but it is practically impossible to fully build the institution at the expense of communities. But we are looking for donors. Work has already resumed in institutions that suffered minor damage, and shelters are also being built. For now, it is planned not to start the educational process there, it will be in a remote format for security purposes. If parents want their children to study face-to-face, (it will be considered, — note) in which educational institution in the territory of the region this child will be able to study like that,» said Alla Velikhovska.

In order for the child to have the opportunity to study face-to-face in another district of the region, buses are provided to communities.

«Of the 25 buses that were purchased with state subvention, 12 have already gone to the communities. There was a 50% to 50% co-financing with communities,» Alla Velikhovska added.

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.

As of August, more than 2,600 first-graders plan to study in Mykolaiv schools. This is 17% less than in 2023.

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.

In August, the Department of Education reported that more than 300 schools in the Mykolaiv region wanted to start full-time or mixed education. However, after specialized inspections, their number halved.