In early March, Russia bombed not only military facilities in Chernihiv. She also deliberately destroyed the city’s educational institutions.
25 out of 34 schools in Chernihiv were damaged, 2 were completely destroyed. But the city revives despite the destruction. Families with children return home. The academic year has already begun, and it is critically important to resume the educational process.
Unfortunately, the students will not return to the classrooms of the two schools in the near future. Other institutions started the year in a mixed format or remotely due to damage to buildings.
All these schools need help. Not only in the restoration of premises, but also in the arrangement of bomb shelters, in providing the necessary materials for training. There will not be enough budget funds for everything, that is why the savED charity fund has taken up assistance in restoring Chernihiv educational institutions.
The fund was founded by former Minister of Education and Science Anna Novosad together with the public organization GoGlobal.
“Ukrainian Pravda. Life” visited three schools in Chernihiv and spoke with Anna Novosad and the head of GoGlobal NGO Oksana Nechyporenko about the state of the educational environment in Ukraine and how the foundation helps to restore it.
School No. 21
There is a modern sports ground near school No. 21, and the territory of the institution is surrounded by an array of coniferous trees. It seems that the children are about to run out onto the sports field. The physical education lesson will begin, schoolchildren will warm up under the teacher’s commands and play ball.
A modern sports ground is equipped near school #21, but the school building is no longer subject to restoration
However, the nearby ruins are a reminder that school life will not return here in the near future.
On the third of March, the Russians dropped a bomb on the school, in the shelter of which the students and their parents and other residents of Chernihiv who lived nearby were hiding. The building is not subject to restoration.
The Russians dropped a bomb on the school, in the shelter of which students and their parents and other residents of Chernihiv who lived nearby were hiding
When the full-scale invasion began, School #21, like many others in the city, became a shelter for local residents.
“Since the bombing was mostly at night during that period, people came at night. And in the morning they went home – to eat, wash, and change clothes. We had children, small babies were brought in cradles,” says school director Inna Levchenko.
Director of school No. 21 Inna Levchenko
Everyone who came to hide from shelling was recorded at the school. According to the director, there were about 200 people in the shelter at the time of the attack.
“I tried to ensure that everyone who came to school stayed in the storage room. But I know people who ran into the premises when the plane was already flying,” says the director.
The Russians dropped the bomb at 12:15.
People died under the rubble of the school. Fortunately, there were no children among them.