UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Sep 1 — On Sep 1, three underground schools opened in Kharkiv. Gwara Media journalists visited one of them in Saltivskyi district — the closest school to the border with Russia, according to the local authorities.
Saltivskyi district is located north of Kharkiv, and has been the main target of the Russian attacks since 2022, suffering significant damage during the first months of the full-scale invasion.
“This is one of the closest schools to the border with Russia. You can see how deep it was built. Depth is a very important factor. The school is large and can contain up to 1,500 pupils,” said Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov.
He also added that 20 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities will study here. The school is equipped with an elevator.
Serhii Makieiev, the school administrator, said that there are 16 classrooms. Children from grades 1 to 11 (a full cycle of the Ukrainian educational system) will study in a mixed format — online and offline — at the school.
Kateryna, the mother of the first grader, said that her son has been waiting for this day for a long time. He wants to study and get to know his classmates, very happy and excited to start studying at the school.
Yuliia Holozubova is a fifth-grade teacher (a form tutor that also teaches other disciplines) who also gives Ukrainian language and literature lessons. She has been working at school for twenty years.
Holozubova says that coming to the underground school was an exciting and joyful event for everyone. The most important thing, she notes, is that children can study and see each other in person again, rather than remotely.
Viktoriia Zhuravel has been a primary school teacher for 32 years. She says her main expectation is interacting with children and developing their social and communication skills.
Terekhov noted that 17,000 pupils will have the opportunity to study offline in the city from the start of the new academic year.
“We built seven underground schools, six in subway stations that we converted into schools. Each school of this type is designed for 1,200 students in two shifts, which means we can educate an additional 3,600 children,” the mayor said.
Three more new underground schools are being built, Terekhov says. They are set to open on January 1, 2026.
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