Solutions from Ukraine: Ukrainian East SOS and Estonian Mondo team up to combat educational losses through experimental project

The East SOS Charitable Foundation, in collaboration with Estonian organization Mondo, hosted innovative "Easy Camps" in Transcarpathia during July and August 2024.

The East SOS Charitable Foundation reported that.

A camp was set up as an experimental project for 150 7th-grade students from the Zaporizhzhia region. It aimed to compensate for the educational setbacks caused by the unstable learning environment during wartime. The program consisted of courses in Ukrainian language, literature, history, and math, along with leisure activities and psychological assistance to promote the students' mental well-being.

On October 31, the organizers presented the project's findings and research, which involved 150 participants and covered topics such as their understanding of the subject matter, their attitude towards the training format, their emotional state, and the outcomes of their training at the camp.

Upcoming research: Effects of remote education

The study reveals the substantial impact of distance learning on students' achievement and motivation.

• Only 2.7% of students study full-time, while 86.7% opt for distance learning. A minority of just 10.7% attend classes in a mixed format.
• Most children (52.7%) have a neutral perspective on the current educational format.

Impact on academic performance:

• Of the participants, 30.7% reported a significant decline in their academic performance across all subjects, while 36% noticed a decrease in their level of knowledge in certain subjects. On the other hand, only 2.7% said their knowledge has improved.
• Most often, students experience a decrease in their level of knowledge: in mathematics—40.5%, in the history of Ukraine and world history—16.5%, and in Ukrainian language and literature—15.7%.

Influence on the psycho-emotional state:

• 24% of respondents indicated that they feel depressed and have no desire to join any classes and do homework, and 7.3% of students indicated that they do not attend classes at all;
• 24.7% rarely see peers offline, although 20.1% of children note communication with classmates as a motivating factor for learning.

All data from the report can be found here.

Training at the camp took place offline at a local school. In an innovative format, impromptu excavations, news writing, and practical application of mathematics are used. There was no homework or traditional assessments. The children attended six classes (45 minutes) in each subject during the camp.

• The most significant improvement was in the history of Ukraine (35.3%) and the Ukrainian language (31.3%);
• 52 % of students noted that the level of knowledge in subjects increased, and 26.7 % noticed an improvement in the level;
• 87.3% of participants respond positively to the chosen training format.

For reference:

It should be noted that the Ministry of Education and Science is launching a new hotline called "School Offline." Its main task is to provide information about educational policy with the aim of returning students to full-time education.