Danyil and her sister Sofia were students of a school in Zhytomyr Ukraine, “My family had doubts about moving away at first, but an enemy missile exploded close by and it terrified us and changed our minds”. 

The war in Ukraine has left children unable to attend their own schools or continue an education once they have reached a country of safety. 

Over 3 million people, mostly women and children have now fled Ukraine because of the war. Often leaving in the middle of the night only carrying essentials for the long trip to safety in the nearest country, leaving behind family, friends, and schools.

These families and many more are now trying to establish a remote life in Romania, Poland, Slovakia and other countries, but providing schooling for their children has proven difficult due to language and other barriers.

Julia is a teacher at an Ukraine school, “I live with my two daughters and elderly parents who are retired. We had stayed at home for the first 6 days of the war, sleeping in our small bathroom or hiding in a cold basement. But when ten houses were destroyed in our neighbourhood and the windows of both our hospital and the maternity wing were destroyed, we packed only what we could carry and started the long journey to Poland, I could just see the stress in both my girls and parents”.

Eva and her three brothers, Ivan, Vitya and Petro, “We left with little, crossing the border to Poland on foot. We feel the lack of communication, I’d like to join online lessons from our school in Zhytomyr, but it’s impossible. I can’t believe I have to stay in another country for a long time. We really miss our past life."

Providing Remote Education Support 

As Covid 19 has recently proven, providing children with the stability of a daily school routine, even remotely, is hugely beneficial. Our aim is to reconnect teachers with their students, allowing them to continue with their education even at a time of war. 

We have willing teachers, including those that have remained in the war zone: 

Inna is a primary school teacher in Zhytomyr. “I generally live and work in Ukraine. Most of my lessons I have during air raid signals. For my work I use my mobile that is not very convenient of course. If I had a laptop it would help me a lot. But I try to do my best for my students, school and country even when I am conducting a lesson and hearing the sounds of explosions I continue to work.”

We are seeking to initially help the students from schools in Zhytomyr and Odessa.

In just these schools in Ukraine, over 50% of the students have now been forced to leave the country and need urgent help with remote education support. By providing laptops, data connections (3/4G), MS Teams and financial supports for the children, teachers and staff forced to leave due to the war, we can help these two communities survive. 

We are aiming to provide:

- 150 laptops 

-150 data cards 

- 360 MS Teams accounts

Each laptop (HP 255 G7 AMD Ryzen 5 or equivalent) costs 2399.00 Zl / €514.00 and with a data card will provide a family with the ability to return their children to lessons from their own teacher and school.

We have partnered with the Salesians of Don Bosco as they have both dedicated people on the ground in Ukraine and can provide the remote schooling infrastructure (MS Teams and support from Salesians School Chertsey - London) for these children, reconnecting them with both their teachers and classmates wherever they are in Europe. 

100% of funds will be used to support the Ukraine children, teachers, and school administration.

If you would like to contribute directly to this project please either:

1. Send a cheque to Mrs N Howell at the Salesian Provincial Office, Thornleigh House, Sharples Park Bolton, Lancashire, BL16PQ clearly marked “Education in Ukraine”. All cheques should be made payable to SDB Trustees.
2. Make a donation through this dedicated Just Giving account for Schools in Ukraine 

If you can Gift Aid your donation this will significantly increase the amount of money we can provide to the schools.

If we fail this generations education, then the war has already succeeded.