Education in Sumy Frontline Hromadas: East SOS Monitoring and Recommendations
The East SOS team has released a new report on the state of education in the frontline hromadas (communities) of Sumy Oblast, based on findings from the monitoring mission conducted on February 18-19, 2025. The report examines the conditions of 11 educational institutions in Sumy, Konotop, Mykolaivka, Putyvl, Kosivshchyna, Krolevets, Ulianivka, and Vilshanka.
This mission allowed our education and monitoring teams to assess school infrastructure, staffing levels and working conditions for educators, their safety awareness, as well as the provision of psychological first aid (PFA) and emergency medical aid.
Our team paid special attention to the emotional well-being and attendance of students, whose numbers in Sumy Oblast are declining due to constant shelling and the forced displacement of families. Over the past two years alone, the number of students has decreased by 10,000.
This threat to safety is further evidenced by official reports from the Sumy Regional Military Administration. Their data highlights the extensive damage and destruction of schools and educational facilities throughout the full-scale invasion. While some schools can only be restored once the active phase of hostilities ends, the educational process in the region remains uninterrupted. Schools are adapting to a grim new reality: children now attend classes in bomb shelters, often unable to step outside for hours during prolonged air raids.
In this document, you can learn more about the current needs and challenges facing schools in Sumy Oblast, and to review our recommendations for improving the quality and safety of the local educational process:
Monitoring was made within the project Supporting Schools in the Sumy Region to Improve Student Safety and Psychological Well-Being/SCHOOL UP Project, with the financial support from Fondation suisse de la Chaîne du Bonheur («Swiss Solidarity»).
Follow the link to learn more about the February 2025 East SOS monitoring mission to the frontline hromadas in Sumy Oblast.
