In Ukraine first day of school is 190th day of War
In Ukraine first day of school is 190th day of War
2022.09.02 20:44
In Ukraine first day of school is 190th day of War
Budrigannews.com – Ukraine — As Russian forces swept into town and artillery shells exploded outside last winter, residents of this village about 30 miles northwest of Kyiv cowered in fear in the basement of the local school. On Thursday, the Russian invaders who failed to seize the Ukrainian capital were a memory, and the school was the scene of a much more tranquil and joyous occasion: the official opening of the academic year, which takes place annually on Sept. 1.
With traditional pageantry, 15 first-graders were escorted into the school’s auditorium by the oldest students. They sang the Ukrainian national anthem and recited prepared phrases about the day’s importance, while a gaggle of proud parents looked on. At the end, the first-graders took turns ringing a bell to mark the start of their academic life.
Across shocked and shattered Ukraine, ceremonies like this — one of the country’s most cherished peacetime rituals — showed resilient Ukrainians grasping for a semblance of a normal life. But the day also highlighted the terrible damage that the Russian invasion has wrought, with many school buildings destroyed, millions of people displaced and countless children, parents and teachers traumatized.
Some 1,000 children have been confirmed killed or injured in the war, according to UNICEF, which acknowledges that the “true number” is “much higher.” And close to two-thirds of children nationwide have been forced from their homes. In front-line areas, where many children remain, Ukrainian education officials say only online education is available — if even that.
Researchers from the Center for Information Resilience, a nonprofit group based in Britain, reported that in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the shelling of schools was intentional: “targeted rather than a by-product of indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure.”
Before and on the first day of school, The Washington Post spoke to and photographed students and parents across Ukraine to collect their experiences and gauge emotions at the start of a school year unlike any other in the nation’s modern history.
Kherson: Online school psychologist
Oksana moved with her family to Lviv after Russian forces occupied their home city of Kherson and shelled a school next to her building.
As the new school year approached, Oksana, who asked that only her first name be used because family members still live under Russian occupation, decided that her son Artem, 11, would study online with teachers from home.
“It was important for me to support those teachers who left [Kherson] and give them work,” she said.
Oksana said she felt reassured that the online sessions would include a school psychologist.
“I think this is a very good idea,” she said. “She’ll help them get to know each other, and help everyone in whatever condition they are.”
But she also worried about what the children have lost.
“Children are forced now to live in such conditions that positive emotions are hard to get,” she said. “To celebrate the First of September, where everyone is just happy to see each other getting ready for school — this was such a ritual. Going with parents to get school supplies, choose a backpack, notebooks. Well, it’s not so important now. It’s just sad. Sadness for what our children have to go through.”
Still, she said, she would try to make Artem’s first day of fifth grade special.
“It should be a good day,” she said. “Maybe we’ll order pizza.”
