Ukrainian schoolchildren received 10,000 devices from UNICEF thanks to EU and Korean financing

Some 5,000 tablets for primary school-age children and 5,000 laptops for secondary school-age children financed by the European Union and the Republic of Korea and delivered by UNICEF will be distributed through educational facilities across Ukraine. These supplies will ensure children can continue studying online, where in-person learning has been impossible due to the security situation. The educational devices will be distributed among displaced children, children with disabilities, children from low-income families or deprived of parental care, and other vulnerable boys and girls who do not have devices to connect to their classes.

The delivery comes as part of a 10 million euro funding by the European Union aimed at ensuring access to education for children amid the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its objective is to support around 680,000 children and 22,000 teachers with safe and accessible learning spaces — offline, where possible, and online. “The European Union is proud to support this initiative to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning. Even amidst the full-scale Russian war of aggression, children must have access to quality education wherever they are,” stressed Remi Duflot, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. “By providing this equipment, we help to ensure the continuity of education and children’s development for a prosperous future of Ukraine.”

The Republic of Korea has allocated 4 million dollars to support formal and informal education for children in Ukraine. “Ensuring access to education for children should be our top priority in any situation. Last year the Republic of Korea donated 6,000 tablets for children in Ukraine as part of our humanitarian aid. And this time, together with UNICEF, we are glad to make such a meaningful contribution for Ukraine’s future. Korea will continue to render support to Ukraine.” said Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine Kim Hyung Tae.

Only approximately one-third of Ukrainian schools nationwide have been able to offer full-time, in-person learning since September. Consequently, around 3 million children are accessing learning online or through a mixed modality: face-to-face and online.

“Every child has a right to education, even when it is difficult to ensure. UNICEF focuses on ensuring studying opportunities among those children who suffer complicated access to educational process due to lack of necessary devices,” said UNICEF Ukraine Representative Murat Sahin. The laptops and tablets will be distributed to children in Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Zaporizhska, Luhanska, Mykolayivska, Kharkivska, Odeska, Poltavska, Sumska, Chernihivska, Kirovohradska and Khersonska oblasts. The devices will be delivered to the education departments and transferred to children for temporary use.

Earlier, jointly with the Ministry for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, UNICEF started distributing another 10,000 tablets and laptops to children in the newly accessible areas of Kharkivska and Khersonska oblasts of Ukraine.

Background

The 10 million euro EU-UNICEF project “Providing urgent emergency education and learning support for children and teachers in Ukraine” aims to ensure all children, girls and boys, especially the most marginalized ones, immediately access protective learning opportunities, with integrated gender sensitive mental health and psychosocial support and social and emotional learning and are supported to continue their education and recover their learning in safe learning environments (online, blended and/or in-person), with supported and motivated teachers in the context of the war in Ukraine. Where access to offline education cannot be safely ensured, the project supports online education, notably the implementation of the ‘All-Ukrainian Schools Online Platform’.