113 underground schools are being built in Ukraine: where and when will they start working
Фото: Фото Запорізька ОВА
Construction of 113 underground schools to provide safe education for children during the war is underway in Ukraine. Over 60% of the new educational spaces are planned to open by September 1, 2026.
This was stated by the Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, in an interview with Radio Liberty .
According to the minister, more than 100 underground schools are currently operating in Ukraine, and another 113 are under construction.
“All children who remain in the frontline areas should have the opportunity to study in safe conditions in underground schools. These are expensive and long-term projects. We are currently working on this within the limits of what the Ukrainian budget can afford today. We have good results, but this is not enough,” said Oksen Lisovyi.
Underground schools are being built primarily in communities located near the front line or in regions that regularly experience missile and drone attacks.
Most of these educational spaces are designed for simultaneous learning of 500 to 1,000 students. If the institutions operate in shifts, this number may be higher.
The Ministry of Education and Science expects that the network of underground schools will create safe conditions for learning for approximately 100,000 children. However, this figure will depend on the security situation and changes on the front line.
Lisovyi reported that the cost of building one underground school ranges from 80 to 120 million hryvnias, depending on the project, capacity, and construction features.
“The projects are expensive. But it’s about the normality of children’s lives and our human capital, so it’s worth it,” the minister emphasized.
According to Lisovoy, for small communities, one well-equipped underground educational space is often enough. At the same time, the problem of safely transporting students to their place of study remains.
The minister also reported that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, more than 400 educational institutions have been completely destroyed. Another 4,000 educational institutions have suffered varying degrees of damage, including 153 university buildings.
It was previously reported that Zaporizhia plans to build the first underground kindergartens in Ukraine , and they are scheduled to open this year.
Recall that Lithuania announced plans to build underground school shelters in six regions of Ukraine : Mykolaiv, Odessa, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, and, probably, Kharkiv.
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