Ukrainian students return to school after six months of war

In kyiv schools, the hubbub of children in the corridors resounds again, after more than six months of absence. These children’s voices which are good to hear and which say everything about the return to an almost normal life. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February, Ukrainian schools had been closed, so this return to school was much hoped for.

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Parents and children often took the lead, they did not wait for the first day of school to return to their school. They paraded all this week in the establishments to verify in particular that the school has a bomb shelter. Families who are lucky enough to have such a school near their homes can decide whether or not to send their children there.

“The last few months have been like a very long nightmare.”

Kate, 9 years old

at franceinfo

Katia, 9, is about to return to her class benches, after spending six months studying somehow behind her screen, sometimes with the sound of bombs in the background. “I miss my friends, my teacher, recess. Deep inside me, yes, I’m scared, but I really want to go back to school“, she says. Katia found her teacher for a long hug, image of the relief of finally finding a semblance of normal life.

This return to school is a challenge for the Ukrainian authorities. The ministry of Education only allowing schools with shelter to open, which represents one in two schools in the country. More than 2,000 schools have been damaged or even completely destroyed since the start of the war. “We hesitated at first, but after seeing the shelter, we are reassured“, confides the mother of Katia.

“Of course I’m worried, it’s war. But I’m happy that my daughter can leave school online.”

Katia’s mom

at franceinfo

A relief to return to school, but also a political gesture for the parents of little Katia. His father evokes a gesture of “resistance” in this context of war. With each air alert in the sector, the children will therefore have to go down to the basement, in the bomb shelters. They look like cellars, with the walls, chairs and tables installed to accommodate children Classrooms that look like bunkers.

Throughout the week preceding the start of the school year, Svetlana Burakova, the vice-director of this school in kyiv, showed parents these shelters every day, also displaying a reassuring tone. “Some of our colleagues have gone to fight on the front lines, so we here have to work too!“, she explains.

“We will continue, not just until the end of the war, but until we win.”

Svetlana Burakova, vice-director of a school in kyiv

at franceinfo

Behind a displayed serenity, the teacher cannot completely hide the pressure and the emotion that weighs on her on this very special day. “yes i’m scaredshe finally concedes in a sob, This is the first time I’ve allowed myself to cry in six months.” “But you see, our children are beautiful. To at no time did I think of leaving, leaving this school“, she continues

This return to school does not concern all Ukrainian children. Those whose school is not equipped with a shelter in particular. This is the case of Vainona, 9, who lives in the suburbs of kyiv and who will return home. “I don’t want to go to school, because there is no shelter from the bombs“, she says. The desire to find her class is still very strong: “I will go otherwise, of course I would like” said the little girl.

Her mother is much more radical. “You have to be really stupid to let your children go back to school!”, she gets annoyed. “Not a single place is safe in Ukraine, of course I’m angry!“, continues the mother of the family.

“We’re facing an invasion and we should happily send our children to school? So that this crazy Putin who runs this big shitty power wishes us a good start by shooting our children?”

Vainona’s mom

at franceinfo

An undisguised anger for this mother who believes that Ukraine “has already lost enough of children like that“. Her daughter Vainona will not return to normal schooling this year like many other Ukrainian schoolchildren. It is currently impossible to know the exact number of schools that will be able to reopen.

Of the 23,000 schools in the country, nearly half therefore have a shelter according to the Ministry of Education, but this figure is much lower according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to a recent survey, between 50 and 60% of parents are forced or prefer that their child continue his education at a distance because of the war.