Capital’s classrooms reopen to more students after the first week of term
Kyiv’s schools are gradually shifting pupils back to face-to-face study as officials reassess how secure the current conditions are after the opening week of the academic year. Valentyn Mondryivskyi, deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, reports that the city’s 412 schools now educate more than 248,000 students. In the latest weekly count, over 45 percent studied in person using school shelters, nearly 30 percent followed a blended format, more than 17 percent learned remotely, and 7 percent studied under individual arrangements.
At most institutions, students in grades 5 through 11 are now returning to classrooms. However, 11 schools in Kyiv will continue with distance learning because they lack their own shelters and have no immediate way to build or adapt them. Those schools are located in the Podilskyi, Solomianskyi, and Holosiivskyi districts. Previously, their students would go to the Kontraktova Ploshcha, Politekhnichnyi Instytut, and Demiivska metro stations during air-raid alerts. With the character of wartime threats changing, officials say that metro-based contingency is no longer safe enough to serve as a school arrangement.
“The first week showed that the learning format can change depending on the security environment. More and more schools are now returning children to in-person lessons. Our goal is to get the most out of every institution where the security situation makes that possible,” Mondryivskyi said.
Nearly 1,000 pupils have also been temporarily relocated to other facilities so they can study in person safely under the city’s “educational migration” effort. Mondryivskyi stressed that decision-makers have to accept how much the range of missile and drone threats has evolved: “What was possible several years ago is not always a safe option today.” For this reason, schools without shelters cannot go back to earlier approaches and are still searching for workable alternatives.
School system adapts to a new security reality
In wartime Ukraine, education formats depend on constantly shifting safety assessments, and Kyiv’s schools are adjusting by trying to protect both students and teachers while keeping instruction going.
Amid ongoing threats to school operations, the capital is looking for the best possible ways to return pupils to classrooms. Making education work in these conditions requires flexibility and unconventional solutions, such as “educational migration” and other teaching arrangements. The effort shows that city authorities and educators are actively trying to preserve quality learning during wartime.
As the academic year progresses, the resilience of Kyiv's educational institutions becomes increasingly evident. Despite the challenges posed by wartime conditions, schools are adapting to ensure that students can return to classrooms safely. For more insights into how these institutions are overcoming obstacles and beginning the term, read about how Kyiv schools are starting the year despite wartime damage.