US to fund printing of more than 3 million textbooks for Ukrainian schoolchildren after Russia destroys printing presses
The United States of America will fund the printing of more than three million textbooks for Ukrainian schoolchildren next school year amid escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian printing presses as part of Moscow’s war against the Ukrainian people. About this stated senior officials of the US administration.
“By striking at Ukrainian printing houses, Russia seeks to hinder the production of Ukrainian textbooks and the education of Ukrainian children. We will not allow Russia to succeed. That is why we are helping to print more than three million textbooks for Ukrainian elementary school students by this school year
Our message is clear: we will continue to support the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against Russia’s barbaric war of aggression.” – National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan emphasized.
The approximately $8 million in textbook printing funding came as the Biden administration adjusted its policies in an effort to intensify Ukraine’s military struggle against Russia.
“The administration changed its policy to allow U.S. weapons to be used to strike Russian territory where Russian forces are conducting cross-border attacks into Ukrainian territory — a change that was first publicly acknowledged in late May as Ukraine worked to repel a Russian advance toward the northeastern city Kharkiv: The administration also prioritizes critical air defense capabilities for Ukraine over other countries.
All of this somehow fits together in terms of helping the Ukrainian military protect its skies, and also helps ensure that Ukraine can educate its students and its children.
It’s not enough to just maintain your army. Of course we do. But we also recognize that Russia is trying to do something broader than that, targeting the culture, history and identity of Ukraine, and we have to respond to that as well,” Jake Sullivan said.
At the end of May, during the Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, the largest printing house in Ukraine, “Faktor Druk”, was hit. According to the official, according to US estimates, it will take Ukraine six to eight months to repair it.
The day after the attack, during a daily internal meeting on Ukraine, Sullivan directed his team to consider the impact of the strike, making it an “urgent priority” for the US to help ensure educational materials are delivered to Ukrainian students. After coordination between the National Security Council, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ukrainian government, it was decided that “using existing resources and programs,” the U.S., through USAID, would provide approximately $8 million to fund textbook printing. Sullivan said this, adding:
“We really focused on first and second grade hardcover textbooks in Ukraine as the area where they identified the most pressing need, and we worked with them to identify facilities where these materials could be produced and printed. So we really started to act on that relationship, and also began to act to allocate additional resources for the implementation of this initiative.
3.2 million textbooks will be produced in other Ukrainian printing houses by the beginning of the school year in September 2024. They will be distributed in approximately 12,700 schools across Ukraine.”
The Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA, Oksana Markarova, called the financing of the printing of textbooks “extremely timely and very valuable for the people of Ukraine.”
“It is especially important that the funding will be provided to Ukrainian printers. This is another investment in our future and our struggle for justice and humanity. Like such necessary support for defense and weapons, this is another sign of strong strategic friendship between our nations. As President Zelensky said : “the partnership between Ukraine and the USA is strong and steadfast”, Markarova noted.