August is only ten days long and the start of the school year is coming up at the same time as September. This observation, which is banal to say the least in the French context, is an event in the Ukraine. Indeed, since the invasion of the country by the Russian neighbor, Ukrainian schools have had to empty themselves of their students, whose teaching was only done remotely for security reasons. However, in a few days, some schools will be able to reopen their doors.
A reopening subject, however, to a double and imperative condition: that schools are equipped with an underground shelter so that students can take refuge there in case of alert or strikes, and that their parents are willing to entrust them for a few hours. to the school system despite the fear of bombing. According to our information, only three out of ten Ukrainian schools will be able to resume their activities. One of them agreed to receive our cameras for a report broadcast this Wednesday morning by our antenna.
“My little suns, follow me”
Lubov Tchasnikova is the deputy director. She acknowledges in the preamble: “The new school year will be unprecedented for us because the children have never gone down to the shelter following a siren.” If necessary, it will be up to her to find the words: “I will tell them: ‘My little suns, follow me, do what I tell you'”.
As the return of the children depends on the will of the parents, they will also have to be convinced. Lubov Tchasnikova is already launching the pitch intended for them: “I say to parents: ‘You sent your children to our school, trust us again, because the safety of your children is our priority.’
Against the clock
Materially, everything is ready. In the hallways, the evacuation plan is now topped by a sign pointing in the direction of the shelter, or “shelteraccording to the strict English term. “There are chairs, tables where the children are going to be able to work,” shows the deputy director of the school. The place has the capacity to accommodate 150 students. In total and for everything, therefore, one in two students will be able to return to the site in a few days.
The need to continue distance education during the other half of the course implies, of course, providing all these hostels with an Internet connection. A race against time for the Ukrainian government. “We have received requests from 3,000 schools, 400 of which are already equipped with Wi-Fi,” estimates Andreyi Nabok, head of internet development at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. He ends: “By the start of the school year, it will be necessary to equip 2,600 schools.” However, over the past six months, Ukraine has faced even more daunting challenges.
Source: BFM TV
