Education in Emergency Research Center

Education during the full-scale invasion in Ukraine requires constant adaptation to challenges, including:
– continuation of learning in remote formats,
– frequent air raid alerts,
– destruction of schools, which causes significant losses in educational quality, socialization, and the psychological well-being of children.

The implementation of reforms such as the New Ukrainian School (NUS) has also faced difficulties due to safety restrictions and the psychological stress experienced by students.

Projects

Lost and Disrupted Lessons Due to Air Raid Alerts

On September 1, 2024, the Ministry of Education introduced a “100% offline” policy aimed at returning students to classrooms after a long period of remote learning. This policy addresses the severe decline in learning quality and student socialization caused by extended quarantine and war conditions. Schools that are able to provide shelters must organize education in face-to-face or blended formats. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of students learning remotely decreased from 18% to 11.7%, bringing around 200,000 students back to classrooms.

Despite these positive changes, frequent air raid alerts cause significant educational losses. In shelters, often basements, it is nearly impossible to continue lessons properly due to limited space, forcing schools to implement second shifts. In most cases, classes are paused entirely during an alert. This creates major learning disruptions that must be assessed and minimized. The article proposes a methodology for calculating learning losses and provides recommendations for reducing missed lessons.

Students’ Perceptions of School: NUS Methodologies and Evaluatio

The New Ukrainian School (NUS) general education reform was launched in 2017 with the goal of modernizing education, centering it on the child, and fostering leadership and civic responsibility. The reform introduced new state standards, model curricula, safe and inclusive learning environments, and specialized teacher training in competency-based learning and formative assessment.

However, the escalation of the war in 2022 led to significant implementation challenges, especially due to the need to adapt to wartime conditions, internal displacement, distance learning, and the migration of children.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine now intends to relaunch the NUS reform with consideration for new realities, especially for grades 4-7, whose education has been heavily affected.
This research aims to assess students’ perceptions of interaction methods with teachers, new evaluation approaches, and to develop recommendations for improving their learning experience.

The study is being conducted at the request of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and will be available in July 2025.