“Children don’t study there for a long time”: educators from Lviv collected over UAH 1 million for the lyceum of the front-line city

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The educational community of Lviv donated more than 1.2 million hryvnias for the construction of a shelter in Lyceum No. 55 in front-line Mykolaiv. After the rocket attack on Lviv on December 29, the collected funds were proposed to be directed to the reconstruction of the local lyceum, which suffered a lot. However, the people of Lviv decided: Mykolaiv needs help more.

They motivated their decision by the fact that, due to the lack of shelter, Mykolaiv children have been studying online for almost two years. Its arrangement will help to return students to their desks.

As the head of the education department of the development department of the Lviv City Council Andrii Zakaliuk told in a comment for “UP. Life”, the idea to help Mykolaiv colleagues arose in mid-December.

The city planned to hold an educational forum, and wanted it to include a charitable component.

Educational forum in Lviv. Photo: Lviv City Council

“We thought it would be very symbolic if we help an educational institution located in the de-occupied territory or near the front line.

Then we contacted the savED foundation, which collects funds to restore schools and equip shelters where children can study, as well as creating mobile classrooms. It was in the fund that we were advised who it would be better to help.” Zakaliuk noted.

In September 2023, the international charity fund savED, together with “Ukrainian Pravda” and Sean Pen’s charity fund CORE Response, collected 8 million for the capital repair of the basement of Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55 and the arrangement of a bomb shelter there.

As the director of savED Olena Severenchuk said in a comment for “UP. Life”, the shelter in this educational institution was problematic.

“Its area is more than 600 square meters. There were great difficulties with ventilation and humidity. About 8.5 million hryvnias were needed for repairs.” – she remarked.

Currently, the shelter is undergoing repair work, but the collected funds were not enough for its complete arrangement.

“In the Mykolayiv region, children can only study underground – ordinary classrooms are not suitable. They need premises in which they will be safe in the event of an air raid. We want this shelter to become a full-fledged educational space.” – stressed Olena Severenchuk.

The savED Foundation advised Lviv educators to join in creating proper conditions for learning in the shelter of the Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55.

“It was the educational community that took part in the meeting – principals and teachers of educational institutions in Lviv. Parents were not involved, because they already participate in many charity events.” – said the head of the education department.

The basement of the Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55, which is being converted into a bomb shelter. Photo: Ukrainian truth

When Lviv came under rocket fire on December 29 and the city’s educational institutions (three schools and a kindergarten) were damaged, the foundation offered to transfer the collected funds to Lviv Lyceum “Oriyana”.

However, according to Olena Severenchuk, the city education department and the “Oriana” lyceum refused to do so.

“They said there that Mykolaiv needs much more money. And in Lviv, the repairs will be financed from the city budget, donations from well-wishers and school graduates.” – said the director of the fund.

“We collected funds for a school in which children have not been studying for a long time. But we still have classes. Especially since our damaged institutions will resume their work on January 15.” – stressed Zakaliuk.

However, the savED fund still helped the “Oriyana” lyceum, allocating 175,000 hryvnias for repairs. Later, they opened a separate collection, within which people donated another 500,000.

On January 4, an educational forum was held in Lviv with the participation of the heads of the city’s educational institutions, where the results of the collection for the Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 55 were summarized. As Olena Severenchuk noted, in total, it was possible to collect about 1.2 million hryvnias.

The collected funds should be spent on the purchase of furniture, equipment and acoustic partitions for shelter. This will allow children to get an education even during air raids.

“More than 1,200 children study at Lyceum No. 55. It will be the only school with an equipped shelter in the district.” – emphasized the director of savED.

We will remind you that a charity auction of meetings is underway in Ukraine, the participants of which are collecting UAH 2 million to equip a shelter in kindergarten No. 77 in Mykolaiv.

Read also: Ukrainian education in 2023: how the Russians destroyed it and how we restored it

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