As of January, about 1 million students were studying online due to problems with shelters in schools — expert

As of January 1, 2024, approximately 1 million students in Ukraine were studying remotely or in a blended format. This is due to the lack or insufficient number of places in shelters. By September 1, this figure had significantly decreased.

This information was reported by Serhiy Yatskovskyi, a national expert on local self-government for the Ukrainian-Swiss DECIDE project, on Hromadske Radio.

«As of January 1, 2024, about 1 million students in Ukraine were studying remotely or in a mixed format due to the lack or insufficient number of places in shelters. It was a significant number. However, by September 1, this number had significantly decreased. Still, it hasn’t yet reached the point where we can say that most students have the opportunity to study offline.»

He noted that local governments are primarily responsible for providing shelters. However, they lack the financial resources to do so independently. Moreover, allocations from the state budget remain insufficient.

Earlier this year, the government decided to allocate an additional UAH 5 billion to equip shelters in schools across eight regions of Ukraine. These regions include the frontline areas and those bordering Russia.

More about funding for shelters

The UAH 5 billion allocated by the government will finance 77 shelter projects across eight regions. These include Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro.

The funds will be used to equip 24 shelters in vocational schools and 53 in regular schools, allowing approximately 66,000 children to return to full-time education.

The Ministry of Education and Science used data from Palantir to select which facilities would receive funding for shelters. The prioritization of educational institutions considered the community’s risk zone, the number of students in schools, transportation options, and the possibility of organizing shift-based teaching.