Classrooms Under Fire: Education in Ukraine During War

When war arrives, it does not knock politely on the schoolhouse door. It breaks windows, silences bells, and turns daily routines into calculations of risk. In Ukraine, education continues under extraordinary pressure, sustained by many who refuse to let learning disappear even as it is repeatedly interrupted.

The most immediate challenge is physical safety. Thousands of schools have been damaged or destroyed since the full-scale invasion began. In many regions, in-person learning is possible only when shelters are available and air-raid procedures are rehearsed as carefully as lesson plans. A mathematics class can be paused mid-equation by a siren, and literature discussions resume after students return from basements and bunkers. According to UNICEF, millions of children have experienced prolonged disruptions to schooling, with repeated closures driven by shelling and missile strikes.

Distance learning, once a pandemic workaround, has become a wartime necessity. Online platforms allow education to continue when physical classrooms cannot. Yet this solution reveals another fault line: access. Power outages, damaged internet infrastructure, and the cost of devices mean that remote learning is uneven. Students in rural areas and frontline regions are especially vulnerable. Even when connectivity exists, blackouts can erase a school day without warning, forcing teachers to compress curricula and students to learn in fragments.

Displacement compounds these challenges. Millions of Ukrainians have been internally displaced or have sought refuge abroad. Children often enroll temporarily in new schools while trying to keep pace with Ukrainian curricula online. The result is a heavy cognitive load as students navigate new languages, grading systems, and expectations while carrying the emotional weight of separation from home. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has worked to standardize digital platforms and provide flexible assessment policies, but coordination across borders remains complex.

Then there is the less visible, but no less urgent, challenge of mental health. War changes how children learn. Teachers report spending as much time stabilizing classrooms emotionally as they do covering content. Psychosocial support programs are expanding, yet demand far outstrips supply. Education, in this context, is about restoring a sense of normalcy and hope.

Ukraine’s experience is a stark reminder of why access to education matters everywhere. War exposes inequalities quickly and brutally, but it also highlights resilience. Supporting Ukrainian education today means funding safe learning spaces, expanding device and connectivity access, and prioritizing mental health alongside academics. Every lesson completed, every exam taken, is a quiet insistence that learning will outlast the war.