Rebuilding Ukraine: Ministry of Education, UNICEF, and Buffet Foundation unite to provide eight school shelter projects for communities
In the photo: interior solutions for typical projects/Photo: Rubryka
On April 1, community representatives were presented with eight repurposed projects at the "School Shelters: Updates on Fund Distribution Regulations."
Rubryka reports this.
What is the problem?
Currently, over 900,000 students are studying online, with more than 200,000 studying abroad. This significantly impacts the quality of education, socialization, and development of skills. These points were emphasized at the event by Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations and Education Development Mykhailo Fedorov and Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi.
Schools must be safe for more children in Ukraine to have access to in-person education. This includes having prepared shelters.
In the photo: Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology Mykhailo Fedorov and Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi/Photo provided by the organizers of the event
It is worth mentioning that last year, 1.5 billion hryvnias were allocated to construct secondary school shelters. However, the communities only began organizing them in the summer due to the three to five months needed to produce project and cost estimates. Producing these documents costs 1-1.5 million hryvnias for each educational institution.
What is the solution?
The Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, emphasized that if shelter is available and the security situation permits, communities will be able to resume in-person education.
In the photo: Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi/Photo provided by the organizers of the event
This year, 2.5 billion hryvnias have been allocated for shelter in secondary, vocational, and technical institutions and pre-higher education. They will be distributed on a competitive basis, taking into account several requirements.
One of the requirements is to have access to design and estimate documentation for shelter construction or renovation. To help expedite this process for communities, the Ministry of Education and Science, in collaboration with UNICEF and the Buffet Foundation, has created eight standard shelter projects. Each community will be able to use them free of charge.
How does it work?
UNICEF has developed project and technical documentation and project design that will be used to build new shelters in kindergartens and schools.
"We have adapted these projects for educational institutions with different numbers of students, taking into account the needs of children, their well-being, and compliance with state standards. UNICEF continues to make maximum efforts to create a safe and conducive learning environment for every child in Ukraine," John Marks, Deputy Chairman of UNICEF Representative Office on Operational Issues in Ukraine, said.
Repurposed projects will reduce the document preparation time to 1-1.5 months, saving funds that would otherwise be spent solely on geological work for a specific location.
All the projects have been developed in accordance with the latest standards and are equipped to handle modern challenges. Communities can easily tailor them to fit the specific needs of educational institutions and utilize them for submission to the DREAM system.
"Some of these typical shelters are actually underground schools. They are already designed in such a way that there are separate zones, so it's not just a shelter; it's a place where a short-term educational process can take place," Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi noted.
In the photo: Participants of the discussion "Presentation of repurposed projects"/Photo provided by the organizers of the event
During his presentation on standard shelter projects, Oleksandr Kochurin, who serves as an advisor to the Minister of Education for recovery matters and also heads the recovery office at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Science, stressed the importance of tailoring each project to the specific needs of the community. He noted that factors such as local wages and the cost of building materials may result in varying estimates for a single standard project across different communities.
These solutions are specifically designed for single– and two-story buildings and can accommodate various numbers of individuals in the shelter. Communities can select the most fitting option based on their student population and budgetary capabilities.
In the photo: One of the typical projects/Photo: Rubryka
According to the new State Building Standards, there are proposals to arrange tunnel connections between the shelter and the school or kindergarten directly if the institution did not have such a shelter and it is being built from scratch, Oleksandr Kochurin also noted.
In the photo: One of the typical projects/Photo: Rubryka
The communities should follow these steps:
- choose the most suitable project for their institution, develop it further, and sign a local binding agreement;
- examine the project and receive an expert report;
- register the project in the DREAM system and apply for a tender to receive state subsidies.
According to Deputy Minister of Education and Science Yevgenia Smirnova, the ministry will assist communities at every step of the subvention application process, from developing design and cost documentation to renovating or building a shelter. Additionally, individuals can receive expert support and access helpful resources on the "My Fortress" website.
For reference:
Rubryka reported that the Ministry of Reconstruction has developed a manual for constructing shelters in kindergartens and schools. The guidebook places special emphasis on implementing measures to guarantee a safe and accessible environment for students and participants of all ages in the educational process.
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