Today, April 27, 2023, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine hosted a handover of laptops and tablets for schoolchildren in Luhansk region with the participation of Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine Rémi Duflot, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine Murat Sahin, and Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Artem Lysohor.

“One third of students who should be able to study remotely today cannot do so because they do not have the equipment. So, together with our partners, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the number of children with access to computers continues to grow. This is crucial for those regions that regularly suffer from russian attacks and have part of their territory temporarily occupied,” said Oksen Lisovyi.

UNICEF, with funding from the European Union and the Republic of Korea, has delivered 5,000 tablets to primary school children. The same number of laptops will be provided for middle and high school students. The electronic devices will be distributed to educational institutions across Ukraine. UNICEF’s new supplies will help Ukrainian children continue their education online, as many have been unable to attend school for a long time due to the security situation. It will also help displaced children who have been forced to leave their homes because of the fighting. In addition, children with disabilities, children from low-income families or without parental care, and children who do not have gadgets to connect to online education will receive the devices.

The new supply of laptops and tablets from UNICEF has been made possible by EUR 10 million in funding from the European Union to ensure access to education for children in the context of full-scale war. The aim of the EU’s financial support is to enable 680,000 children and 22,000 teachers to continue their education online and, if the security situation allows, offline.

According to Rémi Duflot, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, the EU is proud to support this initiative to ensure continuous teaching and learning. Even in the face of full-scale russian aggression, children should have access to quality education wherever they are. The provision of this equipment will help ensure the continuity of children’s education and development for their successful future.

The Republic of Korea has allocated USD 4 million to support formal and non-formal education for children in Ukraine.

According to Kim Hyun-tae, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine, ensuring a continuous educational process should be a priority under any circumstances. Last year, the Republic of Korea provided 6,000 laptops for Ukrainian children as humanitarian aid. And now it is pleased to make another important contribution to Ukraine’s future together with UNICEF. Korea will continue to provide support to Ukraine.

Only about a third of Ukrainian schools were able to start full-time education on September 1, 2022. This means that about 3 million children are currently attending classes online or in a mixed format.

According to Murat Sahin, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, every child has the right to education, even if it is difficult to provide it. UNICEF’s focus is on providing learning opportunities for those children who have difficulty accessing education due to a lack of appropriate equipment.

The laptops and tablets will be provided to children in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, and Kherson regions.