Wednesday06 November 2024
hvylya.in.ua

Nadezhda Kuzmicheva, Ministry of Education: Educational losses pose a significant threat to the nation's overall development.

The war has fundamentally transformed the education system in Ukraine. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, we discuss how the education of those evacuated to other regions or abroad will be conducted, the innovations that await students and teachers, and the importance of doing everything possible to bring children back to their classrooms.
Надежда Кузьмичева, МОН: Убытки в образовании представляют собой серьёзную угрозу для развития всей страны.

The war has fundamentally altered the education process in Ukraine. How will the education of those evacuated to other regions or abroad take place, what innovations can students and teachers expect, and why is it crucial to do everything possible to bring children back to school? – in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Due to the war, education has faced challenges never before encountered during Ukraine's independence. Hundreds of schools have been destroyed by missiles. Children and their parents, fleeing from shelling, have scattered across various regions and around the world.

Distance learning, which was once seen as something atypical, has become the only way for many to gain knowledge. Some have completely severed ties with Ukrainian schools and are now studying in Germany or Poland. Where in-person classes have resumed, children and teachers go down to shelters every time an alarm sounds.

Despite all the circumstances, 40,000 children are studying online in Ukrainian schools while under occupation. The Ministry of Education states: we cannot lose this invaluable connection, so that after the liberation of the territories, children remain mentally close to our realities.

About the educational losses due to the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation and the changes planned in Ukrainian schools during the war – in an interview with Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Nadiya Kuzmicheva.

– How has the level of knowledge among children changed during the war? Many have had to skip learning due to relocations. How will this affect their knowledge and skills in the long run?

The consequences of educational losses that we see today are extremely serious. According to PISA-2022 data, the knowledge level of Ukrainian teenagers lags behind the required standard by at least two years, and this is a warning signal for society as a whole. Educational losses not only impact individual development but can also hinder the economic and social progress of an entire country in the future.

Due to forced relocations and missed classes during the war, many children have not had the opportunity to acquire sufficient knowledge and practical skills. This is not just a matter of school grades. It involves the development of soft skills and socialization abilities, future career opportunities, and successes that may remain unrealized.

The World Bank predicts that due to educational losses, these students will collectively lose billions of dollars in income over their lifetimes. This poses a real threat to our human capital and the development of the entire country. We are currently working on a strategy to return children to in-person learning – this is not just a stopgap solution. It is our commitment to the future of the state, our chance to provide children with the essential knowledge, skills, and confidence that are crucial for their successful realization in life and for a strong future for Ukraine.

– The population structure in Ukraine has changed significantly during the war. How many schools have closed during this period? There are many stories about rural schools having only a few students left, all of different ages, and unable to learn in a single class.

– To assess the changes in the number of schools in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war, we can compare data from before and after the start of the academic year. By the end of the 2022/2023 academic year, there were 12,930 general secondary education institutions operating. By the end of the 2023/2024 academic year, this number decreased to 12,592. Thus, there was a reduction of 338 schools in one academic year.

As of September 2024, there are 12,268 schools operating. The largest reductions occurred in the Zaporizhzhia (by 65) and Ternopil (by 34) regions. These are the areas where schools are being consolidated. At the same time, the number of schools increased only in Kyiv (by 11) and Kirovohrad region, which saw an increase of two schools.

The decrease in the number of operating schools is also related to occupation. Some schools in occupied territories are currently idle. In Kyiv region, the number of schools has not changed.

Надежда Кузьмичева, МОН: Потери в образовании – это реальная угроза развитию всей страны3Photo: Due to forced relocations and missed classes, many children could not acquire sufficient knowledge, – Nadiya Kuzmicheva

The war has caused significant losses in educational infrastructure due to shelling and bombings. Since the start of hostilities, 3,524 educational institutions have been affected, of which 360 have been completely destroyed. This accounts for 14.81% of all educational establishments. Among the affected are 1,663 schools, of which 201 have been completely lost.

The most damaged schools are located in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Sumy, Chernihiv regions, and Kyiv. There are 879 schools located in temporarily occupied territories.

How has the war changed the education process in schools? Some are studying online, while others have completely left the educational process.

– The uniformity of participants in the school process that existed before February 24, 2022, simply does not exist anymore. Before COVID, everything was as we were used to seeing in schools. Students would come to classes. Teachers would come and conduct lessons. And we all joyfully learned under equal conditions. Other forms, such as individual or family external education, were also present, but they were few.

Now, due to the large-scale war, we have a situation where four different categories of children are learning in classes simultaneously. This means that teachers need to spend four times more time in class.

Overall, more than 80% of educational institutions in Ukraine have resumed offline learning. This can be purely in-person or mixed, where schedules alternate: younger children learn in person one week, and high school students the next week. Others study remotely. However, we still consider this to be somewhat in-person, as children have at least periodic access to the classroom. This is the first category of students.

The second category consists of children studying remotely while still registered in the same class. Due to the war, many people have been forced to relocate to other cities and villages. In a classroom of a hypothetical Poltava school that has resumed in-person classes, there may be children physically present at the desks. Meanwhile, there could also be another 3-5 children in the lesson remotely, who have moved to different regions.

In the same class, there may also be about 5 children located abroad. This is the third category of students. They are mostly considered remote, but often cannot attend the lesson because they have classes at a hypothetical school in Warsaw at the same time.

The fourth category consists of children who are located in temporarily occupied territories and also study remotely in our schools. Even with three categories, it is very challenging for a teacher. The teacher enters the lesson, works with the children in the classroom. Children from other regions connect. These are still two different audiences that need attention. This is very difficult. Someone from these audiences will inevitably lose out in terms of time, engagement in the process, and communication with peers.

Schools that could are returning to in-person learning. However, we are already entering the third academic year under wartime conditions. We cannot say that this is normal. Teachers are working under atypical conditions, which creates a double burden. The quality of education for students will suffer.

This is a challenge. It needs to be honestly acknowledged and addressed. We must state that all these categories of students should be separated into different classes or forms of education. If it is in-person learning, the teacher should only work with the in-person audience. Remote learning should be conducted in separate remote classes.

How will this separation look in practice?

– For example, in a hypothetical Poltava school, there were two fifth grades with 24 children each. One of these classes becomes in-person: it includes children from both the first and second grades. Because physically, only 20 students attend. Classes are conducted by the teachers who work with these children. Children of the same grade who are not in Poltava and for various reasons are not planning to return yet learn remotely.

Надежда Кузьмичева, МОН: Потери в образовании – это реальная угроза развитию всей страны4Photo: The goal of the "School Offline" policy is to return 300,000 students to classrooms

There are also those who have relocated, for instance, to Uzhhorod. But for reasons unknown to us, they are not attending the local school. They are also learning remotely. They need to study separately, not with those who are currently at their desks. If the workload allows, the same teachers could be used. But the essence is that all these categories should learn separately.

Education for different categories of students in different formats will become mandatory from September 1, 2025.

– Will those students who are currently abroad be separated?

– They cannot connect to classes while lessons are in progress in the Ukrainian school. Because they are studying in local schools. For this category, a Ukrainian studies component was introduced back in 2023 (a shortened program that allows children to study subjects not offered in