Digital educational centers will be created in Sumy as part of the international project “SpivDiya for the sake of children”
Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the problem of education for children affected by military actions has become particularly acute. Due to constant shelling and air raids, many children lost the opportunity to attend school and participate in the usual educational process. Accordingly, the state faced an important task — to create conditions for access to quality education, despite the difficulties caused by the war.
One of the initiatives that helps in solving this task was the international project “SpivDiya for the sake of children”. Its purpose is to support children in Ukraine, to provide them with access to quality education and psycho-emotional support. As part of this initiative, it is planned to create digital educational centers in the Sumy region that will help children catch up on lost knowledge and overcome the challenges of distance learning.
On September 13, 2024, representatives of the Sumy City Council and the charitable organization “SpivDiya BF” signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of education, which provides for the creation of three digital educational centers in the schools of the city of Sumy. On behalf of the city council, the document was signed by Acting of the city mayor, Artem Kobzar, and from the charitable organization, the head of educational projects, Natalia Kozmenko.
Nataliya Kozmenko reported that this project is already successfully implemented in Kharkiv region, and in 2024 it was extended to Sumy Oblast. As part of the initiative, it is planned to open 10 digital educational centers in schools of the Sumy region. In addition to Sumy, centers will also be created in Shostka, Konotopa, Trostyanka, Okhtyrka, Romny, Lebedyn and Lypova Dolyna. In particular, in the city of Sumy, the centers will be opened on the basis of schools No. 7, No. 23 and No. 24.
The main purpose of these centers is to give children the opportunity to compensate for the educational losses caused by the war, as well as to provide psycho-emotional support. For this purpose, the schools, where the centers will be located, have already started to repair the premises. Each digital education center will be equipped with modern teaching aids: school furniture, multimedia boards, printers, Starlink satellite internet stations, charging stations, laptops for students and teachers, as well as coolers with drinking water. This will create a safe and comfortable learning environment, even during air alarms.
Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar expressed his gratitude to international donors who actively support the education sector in wartime conditions. He noted that thanks to this support, it was possible to reduce the financial burden on the community budget, which made it possible to focus resources on defense and assistance to the military and internally displaced persons. At the same time, Kobzar emphasized that the creation of digital educational centers will be an important step in improving the quality of education for children who are forced to study remotely due to the danger of military actions.
During the meeting, Deputy Mayor Stanislav Polyakov and Acting Mayor were also present. Svitlana Kobeletska, Head of the Department of Education and Science. Together with the representatives of the charitable foundation, they discussed other possible directions of cooperation in the educational sphere, which can be implemented on the basis of the signed memorandum.
The project “SpivDiya for the sake of children” is part of a larger network of programs aimed at supporting children throughout Ukraine. These programs provide not only educational opportunities, but also psycho-emotional support to children affected by war. The project is implemented thanks to the cooperation of the charitable foundation “SpivDiya” and the Representative Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. The first digital education centers were opened as early as 2022, and since then they have been helping children who have lost access to regular education and leisure due to hostilities.
In such centers, experienced teachers, psychologists and mentors work with children, who provide children not only with academic knowledge, but also help them cope with stress and psycho-emotional difficulties that arose as a result of the war. Such support is vital to ensure the future generation of Ukrainians, who must go through difficult trials and help rebuild the country after victory.
The project of creating digital educational centers within the framework of the “SpivDiya for Children” initiative is an important step on the way to restoring the educational process in Ukraine in the conditions of war. Thanks to these centers, children will be able to continue their education, despite difficult circumstances, and receive the psycho-emotional support necessary to adapt to new living conditions.
