Students in Ukraine prepare for the year of the secret schools

 Mykhaylo Aliokhin, the headmaster, completes the bunker, which will house his children for a large portion of the upcoming school year in Ukraine, five meters beneath a Kyiv classroom. Since February 23, when Russia invaded and the sound of school bells was replaced by the skirl of an air raid siren, school bags have been left all over the study hall above. There aren't any windows down here. Upstairs, you can still find desks, bulletin boards, colorful books, and globes. This was once a changing room, but as shelling remains a threat in the capital it now serves as a shelter. Regardless of the current activity, staff will bring the kids down to the basement as soon as a siren sounds, Aliokhin told AFP. "As much as possible, they'll continue working in a laid-back manner." Despite the dire circumstances, he anticipates seeing one-third of his 460 students, who are between the ages of six and 16, when the schools resume on Thursday for the first time since the conflict began.

- Developing adaptability, According to data from 2021, there are 4.2 million school-aged children in Ukraine. According to UNICEF, more than two million children left the country after Russia invaded, and another three million were internally displaced between February and June. 132,000 students are nonetheless prepared to return to school on September 1 in Kyiv, which is now removed from the front lines of conflict raging to the east and south, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. The staff at Aliokhin's private school on Kyiv's left bank, which AFP has chosen not to identify, has prepared two scenarios in advance of the first day of classes. One will take place 10 meters (33 feet) from the shelter entrance and be a typical "overground" schooling session. The alternative curriculum will be taught underground in the event that the air raid siren goes off, which it usually does. We now live in this new reality, which I could never have anticipated, added Aliokhin.

"Be present in the moment," Around 51% of the 23,000 schools surveyed nationwide by Ukraine's education ministry have the bunker infrastructure required to start classes offline. Those without will conduct online lectures. The gloomy environment does not appear to be dampening excitement for the next school year. Polina, 16, remarked, "I live adjacent to my school," as she chatted with pals in a Kyiv cafe the week before classes resumed. "There, where we'll be led down to the shelter in a planned manner, I'll be safer. After two years of Covid and six months of war, she continued, "To be honest, all we really want is to live our lives to the fullest." "We have enough life experience to not be terrified. Our generation has made the decision to focus on the now. For parents, the decision can be more difficult. Sergiy Gorbachov, the education ombudsman for Ukraine, claims that most parents shy away from in-person instruction out of concern about the dangers. According to the education ministry, the war has damaged 2,135 schools. "Regions near the front are fully utilizing the internet. There, face-to-face simply isn't feasible, said Gorbachov. But Youlia Shatravenko-Sokolovych, whom AFP visited in Kyiv, has decided that Myroslava, her seven-year-old daughter, will return to school on Thursday. Although we are all afraid, she continued, "I cannot deny my child socialization." The fact that we are back to a more or less normal life gives me hope. I trust the Ukrainian army that defends us.

AFP

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