Education despite war: Kharkiv authorities show equipped classrooms underground to protect students from air attacks

Kharkiv authorities presented equipped classrooms for schoolchildren in the subway, while classes will begin on September 4.

Ukraine's Kharkiv has built classrooms in metro stations to allow some children to return to in-person teaching.

What is the problem?

Being close to Russia, Kharkiv has been enduring constant shelling since the start of the full-scale war.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov believes children need to get an education regardless, so they have the right to learn and communicate with their peers, not through a phone or computer monitor.

We must teach schoolchildren to write, draw, and talk to each other. Children need socialization. The most important thing is that students have to communicate with teachers, said Terekhov.

What is the solution?

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Tuesday that 60 schoolrooms have been created in Kharkiv's metro stations, creating space for more than 1,000 children to study in person.

Як це працює?

The children will be able to socialise with each other, find a common language, communicate. I absolutely support this, said Iryna Loboda, the mother of a schoolboy.

Students will be transported to the metro station by a school bus accompanied by a teacher. Currently, 34 routes have been developed for this purpose.

The city budget will provide meals for schoolers in the subway. Psychologists and doctors will be available to help at the stations if necessary.

To ensure the educational process, all classrooms were equipped with soundproofing, proper air circulation, and lighting.

No other city in the world has such experience. We have thought of everything about how children will come and spend their time, how teachers will work with them. And on September 4, classes for more than one thousand children will start here. This is the first step, and when parents see the conditions created here, I am sure the number of students will grow, concluded the Mayor.