The Mykolaiv region did not receive nearly 112,000 textbooks due to a missile strike on a warehouse

The Mykolaiv region will not receive nearly 112,000 textbooks in time for the new school year—the shipment was destroyed as a result of a missile strike on the warehouse where it was stored. 

This information came to light during a meeting of theMykolaiv Regional Council’s Standing Committee on Education.

According to the committee chair, Yevhen Gorburov, the region has currently received only about 32% of the required number of textbooks. Due to the destruction of part of the shipment by a missile strike on the warehouse, the region will have to wait for a new print run and redelivery.

Alla Velikhovska, head of the Department of Education at the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, clarified that the region still needs to receive nearly 112,000 textbooks.

According to her, the Ministry of Education has acknowledged the problem and reported that it is seeking funds to reprint the textbooks. However, the official estimates that the textbooks will definitely not be printed in the required quantity by either September 1 or November.

Until the new batch of textbooks arrives, students in the Mykolaiv region will use electronic versions of the textbooks.

The Mykolaiv region has also determined the formats of instruction for the new school year. 

In total, there are 414 educational institutions of various ownership types operating in the region: 387 general secondary schools, 25 municipally owned branches, and two private institutions.

According to Velykhovska, 107 schools will operate in a hybrid format, and 41 will conduct classes remotely. These are the schools located closest to the contact line, where the situation remains very dangerous.

At the same time, the format of instruction may change throughout the year—if a school receives authorization later, it will immediately switch to in-person instruction.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science, as a result of Russian strikes on July 19 against a printing plant in Kyiv and on August 1 against a logistics warehouse in Kharkiv, textbooks for 4th and 9th grades were partially or completely destroyed, as well as a portion of the print run that was in the process of being printed.

In total, about 1 million textbooks were destroyed—more than 270,000 on July 19 and the rest on August 1.

Ірина Глухова