About 3 million children to attend Ukrainian schools in 2026-27 academic year
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As stated by MP Iryna Borzova, schools now have the right to operate in a face-to-face format only if there is shelter (Photo: Unsplash/Ruslan Horovyi)
About 3 million children are expected to study in Ukrainian schools during the 2026-27 academic year, including roughly 240,000 first graders, lawmaker Iryna Borzova said on national television on Aug. 31.
The number of children entering first grade is about 10% lower than in 2025, said Borzova, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports.
Schools are now permitted to hold in-person classes only if they have shelters, she said. As of Aug. 31, 11,375 educational institutions across Ukraine officially meet that requirement.
About 2.2 million Ukrainian schoolchildren are expected to attend classes in person, while another 700,000 to 800,000 will study in a blended format, Borzova said.
Around 200,000 students living in frontline areas are expected to study entirely remotely.
Borzova separately said about 400,000 Ukrainian schoolchildren currently living abroad will also study remotely.
In Kyiv, around 95% of schools are ready for in-person education, based on data from local authorities and the Education Ministry, she said.
Individual schools will decide whether to use in-person, remote or blended learning, while parents will also have the right to choose from the formats available to them, Borzova added.
Ombudswoman warns against large Sept. 1 gatherings
Ukraine’s educational ombudswoman, Nadiia Leshchyk, urged schools on Aug. 28 not to organize large-scale celebrations for the first day of school.
Mass gatherings, including traditional Sept. 1 school ceremonies, pose additional risks because of the possibility of Russian strikes, she said.
“Large gatherings of people create additional risks because, if an air-raid alert is declared, ensuring the rapid and safe evacuation of a large number of children from an open area is extremely difficult,” Leshchyk said.
The Ukrainian government previously approved the schedule and framework for the 2026-27 academic year under martial law.
The school year will begin nationwide on Sept. 1, but regional military administrations and the Kyiv City Military Administration, together with school founders, will decide how classes begin in each area.
The academic year will formally run through June 30, 2027.
Individual schools’ pedagogical councils will determine the final day of classes, the date of end-of-year ceremonies and the length of summer vacation based on the security situation and the needs of students and staff.
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