Ukrainian teachers stay connected thanks to new laptops
With the help of UNICEF and partners, teachers whose schools have been destroyed by the war can now stay in touch with their students

- Українська
- English
Over the last year, Ukrainian language teacher Inna has held her lessons at home, on the road, from a school destroyed by shelling and from temporary housing. While the war may have disrupted her lesson plan, nothing will not stop her giving her students the best start in life.

“Studying is the only thing that our children have, it's the main thing that distracts their thoughts from the war. When they concentrate on something new, master their skills and work with something fascinating, they don't care about shelling and air raid alarms.”
Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, millions have been forced to flee their homes. Scores of schools have been damaged or destroyed, and thousands of students have been left without the opportunity to study.
Inna’s laptop, which helps her to keep in touch with her students, has been provided by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It is one of more than 5,000 laptops provided to teachers across Ukraine by UNICEF, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, to help children who are unable to attend school to continue studying online.
“They started shooting at us”
Twelve-year-old Regina is always among the first to log onto online classes. Today, Inna has promised to talk to her students about Christmas carols.
"In the morning I brush my teeth, have breakfast, and immediately go online. I think it would be better if we have lessons in the school. But online lessons are still interesting, much more interesting than just sitting at home."

Regina and her family fled their home in the Kharkiv region, after houses, schools and critical local infrastructure were destroyed.
"They started shooting at us,” recalls the youngster. “My parents said that there were 28 shots and full-scale fighting would start soon. We had to flee.”
Unfortunately, Regina’s new school in Zhytomyrska was also damaged by shelling. But teachers quickly switched to distance learning, in order to not disrupt the children’s education.
"At first, there was a lot of panic,” says Inna, who was herself forced to flee the shelling with her young child. “Someone was packing suitcases, someone was running away and everyone was confused. Sometimes we got connected while on the road whenever we could, from whatever we could. But despite the fear, we immediately decided to continue our lessons.”
Initially, Inna held lessons using her own laptop, but its limited functionality and heavy weight quickly became a problem.
"Until UNICEF provided me with this laptop, I used to carry my own to work. It was too heavy, it didn't work fast and didn't have the necessary programs.”
Now, with the new laptop, she can easily conduct lessons and even make them more interactive, so that children remain engaged.
"An online lesson for me is not just a lesson, but communication,” she says. “I give children the opportunity to communicate in Ukrainian. I don't want them just to technically do the tasks from the textbook, but use live communication and creative thinking. That's why I need to be able to quickly connect videos and make presentations. The new laptop helps me a lot.”

“We have to make learning as safe as possible”
Teachers at another school in the Zhytomyrska region are also doing their best to provide children with knowledge and support online.
"Of course, children need to work in a team, and feel each other's warm and friendly support,” says teacher Tetiana. “But we have to deal with the current situation and adapt to it. And to make learning as safe as possible.”
Tetiana says it was not just the shelling and air raids that made teaching difficult in 2022 – it was also the school computers, which did not even have webcams.

"I am very grateful to UNICEF for the modern laptops. Each device is fast and really powerful, it opened up a huge level of other opportunities for us. Before, I had to connect from my own phone and show material on a small screen.”
"Every Ukrainian's life has changed, we try to appreciate every second of it, we try to do everything possible," adds her colleague Inna. "From now on, both in our personal lives and at work, we approach everything more seriously and responsibly. And we use every opportunity to communicate with children."
UNICEF is grateful to its partners, the governments of Japan, Norway and Ireland, who have contributed to supporting education in Ukraine during the difficult humanitarian crisis. UNICEF believes that now, more than ever, education needs significant investment in order to ensure that every child in Ukraine can resume their education and have an equal chance for development.