how classes continue despite everything in some schools

“Wanting is power”: the motto is displayed in French on the pediment of school 126. In eastern Ukraine, the French-speaking public school of Dnipro has resumed classes. If in the hall, volunteers make camouflage fabrics and collect humanitarian aid, on the floors, teachers, alone in their class, talk to their students via the computer.

>>> The war in Ukraine seen by the children of the country: “It’s scary when you wake up in the night”

If all the lessons are done by Zoom, that’s already taken, according to the French teacher. “When we work, we think of something else. We think of life, not death”she says with a sad laugh.

These online courses also make it possible to maintain a link with students who have left the city: nearly 400 out of 1,000 students. Vlad has just given a lesson on French gastronomy and he does not talk about the war.

“The most important thing in these classes is not to give serious information. It’s more to help the children psychologically. I try to give more casual videos, I just try to talk to the children , to take an interest in their situation.”

Vlad, French teacher

at franceinfo

And after a two-week break at the start of the war, this return to almost normal schooling is appreciated. Sophie, 15, came to say hello to her teachers because these online courses make her feel good: “It helps me to calm down, to not feel horrible. It allows me to not think about this situation.”

But the reality is sometimes hard to forget. At 12:10 p.m., an anti-aircraft alert sounded. Classes are suspended. About ten people descended into the anti-bombing shelter in the basement. Among them, Marina interrupted her class to take refuge here.

“It’s a bit of a panic. Yesterday, for example, we had three or four alerts. Many schools in Ukraine are already destroyed. We hope that in Dnipro, we are safe.”

Marina, teacher

at franceinfo

For Nikita, a student who lives in the neighborhood, these sirens are very heavy: “You don’t know if it’s bombings or not. You don’t know, you go out and outside it’s ruins.” So far Dnipro has been relatively spared, but director Natalia Pecheronova is not confident: “It’s terrible, terrible. The children have lost the future!”

>>> War in Ukraine: follow our live

Of the six French-speaking public schools in Ukraine, two have already disappeared in annexed Crimea and in the separatist Dombass. Now a hundred kilometers from the front, the director fears to be the next on the list.