Sumy: Nearly five years into the war in Ukraine, children are entering another school year with their education disrupted by air-raid alerts, damaged schools, displacement and shortages of essential learning resources, UNICEF has warned.
More than 1,000 air-raid alerts
Just 15 days into the new school year, Ukraine recorded more than 1,000 air-raid alerts nationwide — the highest number for this period in five years and nearly twice the figure recorded during the same period last year.
UNICEF said the alerts amount to more than 100 each day, forcing children to repeatedly leave classrooms and move into shelters. Sumy, along with Mykolaiv and Odesa, has been among the regions most affected this year.
In Sumy, around one in every two educational facilities has been damaged or destroyed by the conflict. UNICEF has helped establish 22 underground shelters that have been converted into schools for children living near frontline areas. One such facility can accommodate up to 300 children.
Learning losses deepen
Government estimates indicate that hundreds more educational institutions were damaged between January and August this year, bringing the overall number affected since the beginning of the war to more than 4,200.
The disruption is also reflected in learning outcomes. UNICEF cited the latest OECD PISA results, noting that around half of participating 15-year-olds did not reach the baseline level in mathematics or reading, while about one-third did not reach it in science.
Despite these challenges, nearly 4.2 million children returned to learning this September, including more than 712,000 preschoolers, alongside over 366,000 teachers.
UNICEF is preparing winter support for three million people, including 540,000 children, while working to repair school shelters, restore damaged facilities and provide catch-up learning and psychosocial support.