Ahead of Education Workers’ Day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with students and teachers at a lyceum in the Kyiv region. Because of the threat of Russian strikes, classes had to be held in the shelter this morning.
The Head of State spoke with elementary school students. The children told him about their favorite classes and their dreams. The President also visited classes for middle and high school students and spoke with them about their interests.
Thanks to its safe, well-equipped shelter, the lyceum can hold classes for all grades even under the threat of air attacks. There is also a medical room, a cafeteria, a gym, a creative workshop, and a robotics room.
Today, at the same lyceum, the President also met with teachers and heads of secondary education institutions in the Bucha community, congratulated them on the upcoming holiday, and discussed their current needs.
“I want to thank you for continuing to serve in your field and keeping it from falling apart despite all these strikes, the challenges, and the waves of instability caused by the war. Without you – the teachers – this system simply would not exist, of course. And our children would not have a proper education,” the President said.
Particular attention was paid to educators’ pay and addressing their housing needs. The teachers pointed out that even with the state eOselia program in place, young professionals struggle to buy a home because they cannot afford the down payment and the program itself has limited funding. The Head of State gave instructions to explore the possibility of expanding state housing programs for educators. They also discussed the possibility of converting existing unused buildings in the community into social housing.
“We are grateful to you for serving in your roles every day during the war, amid all the explosions and risks. I thank you once again for this. But beyond that, we must also provide ongoing financial support. This is important. We will continue to pay attention to this,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
According to the teachers, not all educational institutions in the Kyiv region have shelters like the one at the lyceum where the meeting took place. They therefore asked for more schools to be provided with properly equipped learning spaces in shelters.
“Hospitals and schools will now receive particular attention. We understand what local budgets are like, and we understand that communities do not have enough money to provide what is needed. And that is why we can divide ourselves into central and local authorities today when it comes to urgent decisions about shelters in cities, towns, and villages. Otherwise, children simply will not be able to study. The task is clear – we will discuss it with government officials and local authorities and look for additional funding,” the President said.
They also discussed opportunities to provide schools with additional equipment and supplies, improve curricula, and stock libraries with contemporary books. According to Minister of Education Andrii Butenko, the ministry will allocate 100 million hryvnias for printed publications by the end of the year. The President emphasized that this is insufficient on a national scale and that, despite the war, more funding should be found for children’s education.
“We have a program that we launched, and 4 billion hryvnias was allocated to it. It is called ‘Tysiachovesna.’ It includes our Ukrainian content of various kinds. And we are adding Ukrainian books to it for next year,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.