Our bunker classroom

Ukrainian pupils learn together after Unicef funds bomb shelter

- BY SIMON MURPHY

Children are returning to a school in Ukraine for the first time in more than three years after Russia's invasion.

Some pupils are finally back in the classroom at Mykolaiv’s Lyceum No.53 school, now that they have a refurbished bomb shelter to flee to.

In-person learning in Ukraine is only permitted where shelter is provided in case of air alerts - a frequent occurrence in the war-torn country.

Across Ukraine, more than a third of pupils were not fully learning in classrooms at the end of 2024/5's academic year.

Attended by youngsters aged six to 17, Lyceum No.53 has space for more than 400 pupils and teachers in its 320 square-metre shelter, which was revamped with £100,258 ($134,798) funding from Unicef. The school which has nearly 1,000 pupils - around 300 of whom are still remote learning - operates in two shifts. Younger kids learn in the morning, older kids in the afternoon.

Some 7ft underground, the bunker classroom offers a place to learn if they need to leave their usual room to hide from Kremlin attacks.