World News
Air raid alert interrupts first day of school in Kyiv
Ukrainian students begin their fifth school year since the Russian invasion facing remote learning, damaged infrastructure, and a declining student population.
The short version
- An air raid alert and overnight Russian missile strikes forced parents and children to disperse during back-to-school ceremonies in Kyiv.
- Nearly a third of Ukraine's secondary schools are unable to open fully in person, relying instead on remote or hybrid learning formats.
- The country's student population has dropped by more than 17% since the 2021–22 school year due to displacement and the ongoing war.
Key facts
- An air raid alert and overnight Russian missile strikes disrupted the first day of school in Kyiv's Obolon district on September 1.[Associated Press]
- According to Education Minister Andrii Butenko, 8,424 secondary schools in Ukraine will operate in person, 1,306 will teach remotely, and 2,211 will use a blended format.[Associated Press]
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 318 education facilities in Kyiv have been damaged, which includes 156 schools.[Associated Press]
- The number of first-graders enrolling in Kyiv schools has dropped by approximately 40%, falling from 28,500 on September 1, 2022, to 16,600 this year.[Associated Press]
- The total number of school-aged children in Ukraine has decreased by more than 755,000, representing a 17.5% decline since the 2021–22 academic year.[Associated Press]