Four out of 11 educational institutions survived in Izium

Occupiers who lived in the lyceum’s basement cut the entire heating system.

Employees and local authorities call Lyceum No. 11 in damaged Izium in Kharkiv Oblast one of the four institutions that “somewhat survived.” This is compared to others which are demolished completely. This institution was the first to be rebuilt. The team and utility workers cleaned and removed tons of debris, and contractors installed windows and made a new roof.

Izium officials told Ukrinform reporters what the institution looks like now and what are its prospects.

OCCUPIERS CUT RADIATORS AND PREPARED THEM TO BE TAKEN AWAY

The building of Lyceum No. 11 was damaged already in the first week of the full-scale invasion. In early March 2022, when the invaders partially captured the city, the Russian military settled there.

Principal Olena Andrushok shows the building with sadness intertwined with optimism:

“I understand that it is not in ruins like other schools, yet the condition of all the rooms makes studying there impossible. Certainly, now, it is nothing like it used to be a year ago. We are finishing repairing the roof and have replaced all the windows. But there is still lots of work to do.”

Olena Andrushok

Ms Olena also graduated from this school; it was her first workplace even before she entered the Teacher Training University. In her third year of university, she switched to extramural education and has not left these walls ever since. She has been holding a position of the Principal for the past eight years.

After the occupiers’ stay, the premises require major repairs.

“I cannot find the words to describe the impressions of what I saw after the city’s liberation... There were no doors, as they had been ripped off and taken to the trenches so that they could walk on them rather than in the mud. They did the same with desk tabletops. They ripped off linoleum in the classrooms and covered the basement floors with it where they placed their bunk beds and lived,” Ms Andrushok says.

Of course, the invaders stole all the computer equipment. They took away Ukrainian books.

But the biggest damage is the destroyed heating system. First, it froze because the Russians destroyed the boiler house with airstrikes. After the school had been hit, occupiers cut the pipes and radiators in the entire three-story building.

“Then, they piled them up neatly. Perhaps, they wanted to sell it as scrap and earn money. But they did not have enough time for that. I don’t have any other explanation for this,” the Principal notes.

The lyceum’s food production area, which was renovated just a few years before the invasion, was destroyed entirely.

“There were new tiles both on the walls and the floors. We have replaced so much equipment!” Ms Olena sighs.

IZIUM INSTITUTIONS ARE BEING MERGED AND RENOVATED

Before the full-scale invasion, there were 460 children studying in the school, now, the number of students is 743, of whom 420 are physically located in Izium.

Since half of the schools have lost their buildings, educational institutions in Izium are being merged. After major repairs, children will be able to study offline.

- We were merged with Lyceum No. 12. Accordingly, our staff expanded, too: we now have 60 educators compared to 35 that we had in the past. Almost all teachers returned to work, some of them stay in other oblasts or in European countries, but all of them teach online, says Olena Andrushok.

Rolf Holmboe and Valerii Marchenko

Chief of Izium city military administration Valerii Marchenko notes that Lyceum No. 11 is the first educational institution in the city where the repairs started.

“We attracted funds from various sources: city and oblast budgets, grants from the European Union. We expect to complete all works by the end of this year,” says the head.

Peter Wagner

Peter Wagner, Director of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, and Rolf Holmboe, Head of the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine, have visited Izium recently. European officials discussed the current main challenges with Izium community management, namely the start of the heating season, demining, and school restoration.

“We are here not only to preliminarily assess and research the possibilities of our help in the region but also to extend our deepest respect and support to Ukrainians for the struggles you have endured, sacrifices you have made, achievements you have attained and the work you are doing now. These efforts are truly heroic – the liberation of Izium and other Ukrainian territories. We will support you further in this struggle,” Mr Wagner said.

Rolf Holmboe expressed his delight with the stabilisation of life in the city and preparations for rebuilding.

“We intend to increase the volumes of our support provided both at the central level to the government of Ukraine and to local communities. This help will extend to territories to be de-occupied in the future,” Mr Holmboe added.

The head of Izium City Military Administration hopes that the European Union will help the city, in particular, in rebuilding schools and constructing bomb shelters in educational institutions.

“Out of 11 educational institutions we had before the war, four survived, but they are in a poor condition, too. We are unable to rebuild them on our own. The lack of bomb shelters in our educational institutions poses another problem. Setting up a safe space for education is a crucial undertaking,” Mr Marchenko says.

At least UAH 200 million is needed in total to restore four lyceums. Furniture, equipment and appliances are not included in this amount.

Yuliia Bairachna, Kharkiv – Izium

 Photo by the author