We’re forced to push kids underground just so they can learn — Kharkiv official

This was reported on Espreso TV by Oleksandr Skoryk, a member of the Kharkiv Regional Council.

“Kharkiv really misses the vibrant student life we once had. The city used to have around 300,000 students, and their presence brought energy and a unique atmosphere to our streets,” Skoryk said.

He added that many children have now left Kharkiv. “According to our education department, about 50% of children have left. But I believe the actual number is even higher, as many families left precisely because offline education is no longer an option.”

According to Skoryk, only 5% of the region’s 100,000 students — just 5,000 children — can currently be taught in specially built underground schools.

“We’ve had to build schools underground because of the savages neighboring us. It’s heartbreaking to have to explain to international partners that we are literally have to push children underground just so they can receive a basic education,” Skoryk said.

He added that after 3.5 years of war and two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many children in Kharkiv are entering the fifth grade without ever having sat at a school desk.

“These children don’t know what a classroom is, who their classmates are, what friendship means — they’ve missed out on socializing through school. And the same applies to university students,” Skoryk noted.

The member of the Kharkiv Regional Council stressed that under current conditions, in-person education in the Kharkiv region is impossible.

“Unfortunately, offline education is not an option today — neither for university students nor for schoolchildren,” Skoryk said.