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Just 15 days into the new school year and already more than a thousand air raid warnings have been sounded across the country, or more than 100 times a day.
“No one hears it louder and deeper than children,” said Ricardo Pires, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), speaking from outside the classroom door to journalists in Geneva.
“Air raid sirens meant the math lesson stopped midway. The kids left their desks to take cover. They waited for everything to clear up. They came back. They tried to concentrate again and then the sirens went off.”
Education is under attack
Mr Pires sounded another warning and this time to the international community.
“Almost five years after the war in Ukraine, Children’s right to education is still under threat, with consequences that will impact entire generationshe warned.
As Russia’s massive invasion continues, Sumy, located in eastern Ukraine, is one of the areas most affected this year along with Mykolaiv and Odesa.
One in two educational facilities there were damaged or destroyed as a result of the fighting, but “across the country, the picture is just as bad.”
The Ukrainian government estimates that between January and August this year, hundreds of other educational institutions were damaged, bringing the death toll since the war began to more than 4,200.
Learning loss, bleak future
As Pires points out, “the harm children experience is not only measured in damaged walls, psychological scars and loud sirens.”
An educational assessment of 15-year-old Ukrainian students conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that “the vast majority” had not achieved sufficient competency in subjects such as science, mathematics and reading.
“This narrows their options for further study, skilled work, and full participation in society as adults,” he said.
Reading, writing and endurance
“Even though there is war, Ukraine has demonstrated extraordinary resilience in maintaining its education system as evidenced by the stability of its results between 2022 and 2025,” he said.
“However, as we continue to warn, children in Ukraine need peace to learn well.”
In Sumy, UNICEF has helped set up 22 shelters converted into schools, like the one where he spoke that can accommodate around 300 students.
This month, nearly 4.2 million children across Ukraine – and more than 366,000 teachers – returned to school.
However, many children still depend on blended learning or online learning, while almost half of all pre-school age children do not receive regular education and care.
Winter threats and responses
Pires said the approaching winter also posed another threat to education, as attacks on infrastructure would disrupt electricity and heating supplies.
“Last year almost two million children suffered extreme winter conditions due to having no heat, electricity and water. Power outages also disrupted online learning, and frontline regions such as Sumy were the most affectedhe said.
This winter, UNICEF aims to reach three million people in Ukraine, including 540,000 children.
The agency wants to ensure that 375,000 students can continue learning, including by repairing heating systems, providing backup energy to schools, rehabilitating school shelters and supporting catch-up learning.
“We are doing everything we can to keep children learning, but no amount of support can protect their education from the impact of ongoing attacks,” he said.
