More than 2,600 first-graders plan to study in Mykolaiv schools — this is 17% less than last year

Children in the shelter of the Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55, archival photo of NikVesta

As of the beginning of August, parents of 2,678 children submitted documents for admission to the first grades in Mykolaiv schools.

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.

«I can tell you the data for Mykolaiv, because the data for the region will still be collected until August 20. There are 2,678 students in the first grades of schools in Mykolaiv. Compared to the previous school year, this is 17% less,» said Alla Velikhovska.

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At the same time, the director noted that some parents are still thinking about whether to send their child to school this year. According to her, 57% of parents expressed a desire for their children to study face-to-face, while other parents want to leave distance learning.

«There is a group of parents who are in favor of full-time education: «they study in Odessa, but we still do not study and our children suffer.» At the same time last year, there was a situation when it became known that the institution would work full-time — in two days, almost 70% of parents started collecting documents. Therefore, there can be no unequivocal opinion here,» added Alla Velikhovska.

She reminded that in order to open a classroom there must be a certain number of students.

«This is a problem. Now I cannot say exactly how many students are needed, earlier they discussed 20 people for distance learning, then 25. Now they said that this number has been reduced, so we are waiting for this order. It is planned that there should be one, two, or three schools in the Mykolaiv Oblast that will work exclusively in remote mode. Even in peacetime,» the director noted.

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.

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

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 academic 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.

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

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

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.

Also in August, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that starting in September, the city authorities plan to open 40 schools in Mykolaiv for full-time education. But parents will independently choose the format of education for their children.