Let's talk about the importance of education: Oleksandr Pedan and UNICEF meeting schoolchildren and their parents in various regions of Ukraine

UNICEF together with Oleksandr Pedan launched series of interactive classes with children, adolescents and their parents about mine risk education, mental and physical health, and importance of education. During one month UMind NGO team will host ‘Not-a-Lecture’ events in the framework of Back to Learning initiative in 13 cities of Ukraine. 

‘Not-a-Lecture’ – this is how TV presenter Oleksandr Pedan calls the format of the meetings with Ukrainian schoolchildren. He says it will be an interesting discussion of important topics without any tests or homework. Oleksandr will hold his non-lectures in 13 cities, including Rivne, Lutsk, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kremenchuk, Oleksandria, Kropyvnytskyi, Poltava, Dnipro, Myrhorod and Kyiv.

"Every child, even in the current circumstances, must have access to quality and safe education, — Murat Shahin, Head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in Ukraine, is convinced. — It is important to choose a learning format that works for you – whether it’s offline, online or hybrid. This is exactly the message that the project team is going to deliver to school children and their parents. We want them know that basic knowledge of geography, history, or fine arts, is not the only thing children are going to acquire while studying".

"Education will provide much more for them — it will be the island of safety they used to have before the full-scale war, as well as a place of support, peer interaction and physical activity," - says Murat Shahin.

As Oleksandr Pedan adds, they also cover other important topics such as how to act if you see a mine (recommendations were developed together with UNICEF experts), why you should not be ashamed of your fears and worries, and how to fight stress with the help of sports. After the Non-Lectures, students will join a quest that will help them learn important information in a playful way.

In addition to students, parents will be invited to these events, as nowadays they also stress out about the safety and quality of their children's education. They will be engaged in a discussion specially arranged for them, during which they will have a chance to talk with the representatives of the Departments of Education and Science in their cities and with school representatives.

"My daughter is currently studying at a university in Lviv, and my son is attending kindergarten. Therefore, I have a lot of questions regarding the educational process in wartime. And that is why I can fully understand these parents," - says Oleksandr Pedan.

"We decided to provide a platform where parents could talk to education representatives, and share their concerns, expectations, and try to find common solutions. For example, how will the bomb shelters in schools be illuminated if the lights go off during an air raid alarm, what to do with homework in the dark, and how learning will take place in the coming winter. All these topics will be brought up at the discussion platform during our events," - says Oleksandr Pedan

These events will not be announced publicly for security reasons. But if schoolchildren and their parents want to visit them, they should contact local education departments for detailed information as recommended by the "Learning Together" project team.

This project is implemented by the NGO UMind within the framework of SPILNO, a program of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support families with children affected by the war. SPILNO program unites the efforts of UNICEF with the government, local authorities, public sector and business partners for the sake of every single child in Ukraine.