East Europe Foundation, in partnership with the State Emergency Service and the Ministry of Education and Science, launched The Safe School Program to help equip 20 bombshelters. This issue was discussed at the briefing held by East Europe Foundation on August 8, 2022, and attended byits President Mr. Viktor Liakh.

At the briefing, Mr. Victor Liakh was joined in person by Mr. Serhii Shkarlet, Minister of Education and Science, as well as other dignitaries: Mr. Roman Prymush, Deputy Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine responsible for Emergency Situations in Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization; and, Ms. Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

As part of The Safe School Program, Foundation, together with the State Emergency Service and the Ministry of Education and Science, will select 20 schools in relatively safe regions of Ukraine: Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky, Odesa and Kyiv. Among these 20, 16 schools will receive a basic shelter package: electric heaters; emergency lights; first aid kits; water coolers and water filters; routers; seating furniture; materials for activities and games with children.

In addition to it, shelters in four select schools (one in each region) will undergo renovation and upgrade to become ‘model’ shelters: they will be visited by educators and authorities from other regions to learn from this experience. The Initiative implementation period is August 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023.

Viktor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation, stated that 20 shelters are just a pilot project. “We will continue to look for opportunities to support this Program in the future, because we fully understand that if children can safely attend educational institutions, this will determine not only the quality of education, but also the ability of their parents to return to work,” says Mr. Liakh.

In addition to equipping safe bombshelters, Foundation will develop a free online course for teachers as part of the Program. Available on the Zrozumilo! Educational Online Platform, the course will help you learn how to conduct classes for children in shelters and provide them with psychological support. Also, Foundation will develop methodological recommendations on how to equip shelters for educators, whereas the Ministry of Education and Science will distribute them among the nation’s schools.

East Europe Foundation thanks its partners Eurasia Foundation and Terre des Hommes, as well as EPAM Ukraine, Baker Tilly Internarional and METRO Ukraine for their support of The Safe School Program.