Ukrainian teacher turns house into classroom to help protect students

In a village in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, about a dozen students go to school every day at their teacher’s house. This is the reality of life in a war zone.

Only about 1,000 residents in Shandrygolove have survived since Russia started its war last year. Local schools have been destroyed.

The village’s 15 children are forced to learn without electricity, a physical school or a reliable internet connection.

About 11 of them have found shelter in the home of Oleksandr Pogoryelov, who teaches Ukrainian language and literature to students aged 4 to 16. He also teaches world literature, biology, geography and mathematics.

“It’s better to teach in person,” he said.

“A doctor has to treat patients and a teacher has to teach children.

“When the school was destroyed, I decided to teach the students at home so that they can communicate with each other.”

The rest of his school’s 120 students are scattered across the country fleeing the conflict.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNICEF, the education of about five million children has been disrupted since the outbreak of war.

It is also recorded that thousands of schools and educational facilities were damaged or completely destroyed as a result of the fighting.

About 1.9 million Ukrainian children have access to online classes, but attacks on energy infrastructure have cut many from their teachers.

The situation is also difficult for Ukrainian students living outside the country. UNICEF added that about two out of three refugee children are currently not enrolled in a school in their host country.

For more information, watch Euronews’ report in the video above.