Headline, January 25 2022/ ''' '' WARTIME -STUDENTS- WARRANT '' '''

''' '' WARTIME -STUDENTS-

 WARRANT '' '''

BETWEEN CLASSROOMS AND BOMB SHELTERS : The World Students Society, is the exclusive  ownership of every student of Ukraine. Where explosions and blackouts are all part of the daily routine at a Kyiv school.

KYIV : More than 2,600 educational institutions had been damaged by bombing and shelling, by the last week of December, according to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Education, and another 406 were completely destroyed.

WHEN the blare of the siren rang out over the loudspeaker, the students in a school in central Kyiv quickly rose from their desks, packed their things and filed calmly down the stairs behind their teachers. But this wasn't a drill.

In the darkness, huddled in the narrow hallway of their basement shelter, students chatted among themselves. Some used the lights on their smartphones to work on classroom assignments.

They would remain in the shelter for nearly two hours until the threat of an airstrike passed. It is the new reality for the 430 schoolchildren, 6 to 18 years old, who still attend classes in person at this large public elementary and high school in Ukraine's capital.

Although classes resumed in September, a relentless barrage of Russian strikes on the city since October has crippled the country's power grid, caused rolling blackouts in Kyiv and offered the latest challenge to education during wartime.

''We hope this will not last for a long time,'' said Olena Romaonova,50, who has been the principal of the school for the last decade.'' ''We also have a generator, but since the school is large it cannot meet the needs of the entire institution.''

Initially, the school struggled to adapt, and some students' grades faltered, she said, but the school is doing its best to adapt to the new obstacles. Schools across the Ukrainian capital have closed for January amid power cuts, and Ms. Romanova said teachers have been offering extra lessons online to try to keep students up to speed.

But a visit to one school in the city in late December before the winter break, offered a window into the hardships these children need to overcome and their determination to continue, with parents and teachers doing what they can to provide the children with some sense of normalcy.

There are normally 850 children enrolled in this school. But In December some classes were only half full, as many students are studying online, and some parents believe that it's safer for their children to study from home.

Some students are living abroad, after fleeing alongside millions of other Ukrainians, but continue to dial into classes.

On the flip side, some new students have joined the classrooms, displaced from battered communities closer to the frontlines in Ukraine's east. The school requested that its exact name be withheld for security and privacy reasons.

But few aspects of the education process are untouched by war. With Russian strikes a constant threat, high school students receive first aid training at school. During last month's visit, a group of high school girls practised applying tourniquets and bandages to one another.   

For now, though, the blackouts remain the most pressing concern.

Maria Lavrynenko is studying online from her home because of her family's safety concerns.

Maria, 17, fled the city with her parents early in the war, relocating to a village farther west. From there she continued her education online, and chose that option when they returned to their home this fall.

Each day Maria, who is in the 11th grade, logs on from her family's apartment in Kyiv at 9 a.m. and continues with her lessons until 3.30 p.m.

Then she attends lessons at a rhythmic gymnastics school and hopes to study physical education at university. But rolling power failures have forced her to fund creative ways to complete her assignment when the lights flicker off.

Sometimes she heads to a nearby store that has a generator and Wi-Fi and electricity available. On a recent afternoon, as the power at home cut-out, she took a photograph of an essay she had just completed and sent it to her teacher.

Sometimes she drops off her assignments in person. Still, she and her family think it's best for her to study from home.

''There are also other reasons for distance learning,'' her mother, Maia Lavryneko, 52, explained. '' When there is an air alert in school - everyone goes to the shelter and when you are at home you can continue to study, even during the air alert.

Staying at home is no guarantee of tranquility, though. In early December, there was a drone strike near their home.

Despite all of this, normal life at school carries on. The teachers held a pajama party for the younger students on the last day of the school before the start of the winter break. Children clutched stuffed animals and giggled in their onesies. The older students also held a party and shared snacks and tea.

Ms. Romanova, the principal, said it is important for her to maintain this positivity for in-person schooling. She said she sees it as the personal battle front of every student and teacher in Ukraine.

''All of us make our victory closer with our educational achievements,'' she said. ''We're here in this moment, and will be able to overcome it, we will be able to overcome the troubles that fall on our children.''

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on the World, Wars, Students, Teachers, and Challenges, continues. The World Students Society thanks authors Megan Specia, Laura Boushnak and Nikita Simonchuk.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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