Soon, all students of the Nizhyn gymnasium in Chernihiv region, as well as two neighboring educational institutions, will be able to return to full-time studies. Repairs of the shelter, which will be able to shelter up to 1,200 people, have begun in the consolidated institution of the Chernihiv region. 

The Nizhyn gymnasium is 100 years old. With the beginning of a full-scale war, its old basement became a shelter during shelling for schoolboys and schoolgirls.

“There was nothing to breathe in the basement to which we evacuated with the children last year. The air was dusty, because there was solid sand instead of a floor. Toilets were also missing. In general, it was impossible to stay in the basement for a long time,” – recalls Viktoriia Pushkina, the gymnasium’s director.

Now the old basement is turning into a comfortable shelter. Dismantling works are carried out in it, a sanitary room is arranged, ventilation is installed, etc.

Previously, high school children attended school alternately: one week after another. Instead, the renovated shelter in the Nizhyn gymnasium will be able to shelter up to 1,200 people at the same time.

So all 806 students of the gymnasium itself, as well as 100 children from the kindergarten and 180 students of the neighboring school, which does not have a shelter, will be able to feel safe during air alarms.

The arrangement of the shelter at the Nizhyn gymnasium is a joint project of Olena Zelenska Foundation and the charity foundation of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE Foundation). Currently, the restoration of six more shelters in educational institutions in Kropyvnytskyi, Kryvyi Rih and Kremenchuk is underway.

Any school or kindergarten that needs it can apply for a shelter. To do this, you need to fill out the form at the link: https://foundation.kse.ua/en/safe-education/