Insights From Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska

“Education is the foundation of resilience and peace, and it must not be put on hold,” First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska told me in an interview. “During war, education goes beyond academic knowledge. Education is about preserving childhood. It must foster empathy, life skills, and a sense of responsibility.”

Throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelenska has worked to continue public education efforts across Ukraine, despite the wartime challenges. For example, in September, the Ukrainian government organized the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, a two-day event focused on education around the world, particularly in Ukraine. During the conference, Zelenska, the summit’s founder, discussed how children and teenagers will define Ukraine’s future. Similarly, during the UN General Assembly in September, the First Lady of Ukraine spoke at a panel on Russia’s military incursion and how it has impacted Ukraine’s children and their education.

Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the Ukrainian government has invested significant resources to educational programs. According to the World Bank, between 2001 and 2021, Ukraine’s government allocated an annual average of 15% of its gross domestic product to education, a high ratio compared to roughly 6% in the United States. The investment has paid off. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Ukraine has a literacy rate of 99.97%, making it one of the world’s most literate populations.

Ukraine’s investment in education has produced numerous prominent figures in various fields. For example, Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska was awarded a Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, for her work in sphere packing. Max Levchin, the co-founder of PayPal, and Jan Koum, the co-founder of WhatsApp, were educated in Ukraine. Plus, several world-renowned Ukrainian athletes, such as Elina Svitolina and Oleksandr Zinchenko, completed their education in Ukraine.

How Ukraine’s Education Sector Changed During The War With Russia

Education in Ukraine has changed since Russia’s invasion started in February 2022. According to Osvitoria, an educational nongovernmental organization in Ukraine, 400 academic institutions have been destroyed. Additionally, nearly 4,000 schools and universities in Ukraine have been severely damaged. The ravaging of educational institutions, along with the constant threats of missile strikes and drone attacks, has made pursuing academic studies in a safe environment difficult for children and young adults. As such, there is now an increased emphasis on remote educational programs.

“More than 430,000 students in Ukraine have lost access to in-person learning because their schools either lack shelters or remain under occupation and now exist only in online format,” Zelenska explained during our interview. “In total, 11% of Ukrainian students study exclusively online [due to the war].”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having a particularly detrimental impact on high school seniors. At first, fewer high school students were applying to higher education institutions. In an article published in June by the scientific journal Nature, researchers found that 16% of Ukrainian high school seniors had become displaced during the Russian invasion. The same Nature report stated that, in 2022, 34% of high school seniors did not take the standardized higher education entrance exam required to apply to colleges and universities. Now many initiatives are in place to help students continue their education.

“Each day, about 3.7 million Ukrainian schoolchildren go to their lessons. Their teachers teach from shelters, in underground schools, or through a computer screen,” Zelenska said.

Demographic changes in Ukraine during the war have also affected the education sector. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 10.6 million Ukrainians, or one-fourth of Ukraine’s total population, remain displaced due to Russia’s invasion. Roughly one-third of these Ukrainian refugees are children. Additionally, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russian forces. These factors have put strains on Ukraine’s education system.

Why Ukraine Leads The World In Tech-Savvy Education

Lessons from the pandemic have been helpful for institutions changing the way they approach education across Ukraine.

Between 2019 and 2021, Ukraine’s education sector focused heavily on remote learning, in which teachers broadcast their lesson plans to students online. Additionally, the government launched information technology initiatives with certification programs to help students acquire more technical skills. With that digital infrastructure still in place after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Ukraine’s education sector quickly transitioned when the war started in 2022. As of July, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked Ukraine first in the world for digital technology usage in classrooms among countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment.

“Digital initiatives, such as the All-Ukrainian Online School [created by Osvitoria], launched in 2020 in response to COVID-19, help students in Ukraine, the temporarily Russian-occupied territories, and abroad continue to learn despite air raid alerts and displacement,” noted Zelenska in our interview, adding that the government-sponsored platform has reached one million registered users. While the focus is primarily on education for children in Ukraine, coursework is often available for Ukrainian children now living abroad.

Along with online learning options, government entities and nongovernmental organizations, such as Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science and Osvitoria, work together with schools across the country to provide safe, in-person learning. According to the Ukrainian government press statements, roughly 200 underground schools have been built since 2022, all fully equipped with desks, tables, chairs, books, and school supplies found in a typical above-ground classroom.

Many Children Have Never Seen An Above-Ground Classroom

Nevertheless, danger is ever-present. According to Save the Children, an international nongovernmental organization, the “equivalent of about 150 classrooms of children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the start of [Russia’s] full-scale war.” This equates to roughly 3,000 child casualties. Just last week, CNN reported that a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil killed seven Ukrainian children.

“Many children have not seen a physical classroom for five years, since before the coronavirus pandemic,” Zelenska said. “This affects not only their level of knowledge, but also their social and emotional development.”

These hardships have made it very difficult for Ukrainian children to learn in these environments. Despite these challenges and dangers, Ukrainian educators continue to work with diverse children.

“Usually, we do not consider teaching to be a heroic or dangerous profession, but in Ukraine, often it is,” Zelenska told me. “[There are] thousands of Ukrainian teachers who risk their lives so children can continue to learn. Every teacher giving lessons from a basement under fire has become a symbol of our defense, just like a soldier on the frontline or a rescuer at the site of an attack. Each teacher’s story today is unique, dramatic, and deserves to be told.”

The Rise Of New Private-Public Educational Partnerships Across Ukraine

Over the past three years many new nonprofit initiatives have been formed to support these dynamic education efforts. Organizations such as Osvitoria, Teach for Ukraine, and Learn and Teach UA have established platforms that create access tools for Ukrainian educators to help them instruct Ukrainian children. These organizations have also provided tutoring for Ukrainian students.

Similarly, Zelenska launched her own initiative in 2022, the Olena Zelenska Foundation, which seeks to “help restore and improve the lives of Ukrainians.” The Olena Zelenska Foundation has helped create 17 school shelters used by more than 7,500 students during the ongoing war.

“The core audience of the Foundation’s projects is children, teenagers, and young people — those living through the realities of war today, and at the same time those who will shape Ukraine’s future,” Zelenska said. “Partners from more than 30 countries have already joined us, and together we work to ensure that despite all Russian attacks, our children not only survive — but have every opportunity to develop, learn, and dream.”

Despite the severity of the situation, Ukraine’s government and educators have continued to press forward, seeking innovative ways to teach children while also keeping them safe.

“The words ‘education’ and ‘light’ sound similar in Ukrainian. This is not accidental as they come from the same root word,” Zelenska concluded in our interview. “By investing in education, including safe learning spaces, mental health support, and digital access, we move toward light and hope.”