AFT Mission to Examine Education Destruction in Ukraine

Mission Purpose

Fifteen months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has left massive destruction of infrastructure, including schools and the entire education system. 1.8 million children have become refugees and 2.5 million are displaced. The time has come to assess the education situation not only of refugees, but also in Ukraine itself. We must observe the scale of destruction of education infrastructure, as well as identify the most acute needs of EI affiliates in Ukraine and possible avenues of international help.

We will be in Kyiv from Monday, May 8 to Thursday, May 11. These four days will be packed tightly with meetings and site-visits, allowing us to make the most of this unique opportunity afforded to us by the TUESWU. The first-hand observations and discussions will empower the formulation of our program of action and provide us with authentic references for our reporting in Brussels and Washington. Our plans include visits to schools, meetings with teachers and students, observing teacher training and discussing with policy forecasters the way forward.

This four-day working visit on supporting Ukrainian education will be organized by Education International and will take place in Kyiv, hosted by the Ukrainian education union TUESWU, in collaboration with the city council. It will include meetings with the Ministry of Education and Science, Pedagogical University, and school visits. While we are there, we also plan on meeting with representatives from United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU). By combining meetings with the government, various United Nations agencies and our union partners, we will be granted a well-informed snapshot of the status of education in Ukraine.

The delegation will include the political leadership of EI and its European regional organization ETUCE, leadership of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Polish Teachers Union (ZNP) – EI affiliates who have taken an active role in providing all possible assistance to our Ukrainian members during the war.

The delegation will present a report on its findings and its recommendations to our respective memberships, governments and partner organizations. The report will be the basis for a multi-lateral program of action that will offer a number of opportunities for engagement, immediately and long-term.

Reflection from AFT President Randi Weingarten

All across the world, the fight of democracy against autocracy is being waged, but nowhere is that fight more palpable than in Ukraine. Russia President Vladimir Putin’s unjust and criminal war against the people of Ukraine is not just a fight over territory and borders, it’s a fight for the very principles we extol and raise up every day in our work: Freedom and democracy. Ukraine has always believed in its right to self-determination, and this war is another chapter in that story that Ukrainians are pushing for with resolve, resilience, courage and determination. That is why we came to Ukraine, not simply to bear witness to their struggles, but as believers of freedom and democracy, as believers in the future of the world, in the peace of the world, in the sanctity of the world, and that the world can provide a better life to its inhabitants.

Right now, schoolteachers in Ukraine have all the responsibilities of the world in their hands and heads as they try to help kids get through their trauma, as they try to get kids to laugh again. But they do not quit. They refuse to give in and let Putin win. They are refusing to let Russia take their liberty and their lives away, and that is something I have seen in the quiet conversations I have had with mothers and teachers. It is utterly amazing, the ability to keep alive the spirit of democracy, the spirit of freedom and the spirit of wanting our kids to have a better future.

What our sister union, the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine, has been able to do here is nothing short of miraculous, but even that word takes away from their ability. TUESWU members have been helping educators in occupied lands move and get settled in western Ukraine. They’ve been helping people who have left the country come back. They’ve been helping their students when it comes to online education. And they’ve been fighting with all that they have to protect teachers. But they are not just fighting for their fellow members. They’re rolling up their sleeves and helping all of the teachers and children in Ukraine.

We also came to Ukraine to meet with our civil society partners, those in Ukraine who are doing all that they can to help their country during this war. The organization Save Ukraine is bringing children back from Russia and helping them cope with their trauma, and the organization Save Ed is focused on rebuilding education in the country. They inspired me deeply during my time with them, providing another two examples of organizations founded by Ukrainians doing everything they can to help their people not just now, but in the future. These problems will not disappear once the war is over. They’re generational. Once peace has been brokered, today’s children will continue to feel the pain of this war, and it is up to organizations like these to help them cope with their social and emotional trauma.

I saw this fight up close and personal. We entered Kyiv and went straight to a bomb shelter as drones were struck down just blocks away from us, something that happened again the next night. We traveled to Borodianka and Makariv to see firsthand the devastation that Russia has caused with this war. Destroyed apartment buildings, bombed out and shot up schools, an abandoned kindergarten building, all legacies of Russia trying to destroy this country and its people. I walked through the shattered halls of that kindergarten and saw all that was left behind in the wake of bullets and artillery shells. The painted hallways, once a cause of joy for the children who went there, were now covered in shattered glass and dirty with soot. Bulletin boards once holding announcements and flyers for the children now laid on the ground, broken and left behind. I walked through halls riddled with bullet holes and graffiti left behind by Russian forces, a stark reminder of a history only months old.

This is the legacy that Russia is leaving behind in Ukraine. Destruction, chaos and banditry. It was deeply unsettling, but I knew that I had to be there. When I was a high school teacher, my kids used to say, “You need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, Ms. Weingarten.” There is no better way to walk the walk than actually being in Ukraine in solidarity with our union siblings. That’s what we tried to do with this trip to Kyiv, and what we’ve always tried to show in all of our previous trips. It’s important to share sorrow together, but it’s also important to move forward together. That’s what solidarity is all about. That’s what unity is all about. That’s what walking the walk is all about.

Trip Summary

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the focus of NATO and the international community has been on military and economic assistance to help Ukraine win the war. The American Federation of Teachers is of the opinion that the collateral damage to education―to teachers, children and parents―deserves our attention.

AFT leaders traveled to Kyiv May 8-12, 2023, alongside our partners Education International and the European Trade Union Committee for Education in order to meet with partner unions and organizations. The AFT was led by President Randi Weingarten and Vice President Dan Montgomery. EI was led by General-Secretary David Edwards, and ETUCE was led by President Larry Flanagan.

The AFT has a long history of missions to Ukraine dating back to 2014, and this was the AFT’s fourth mission to Ukraine since the war began. In 2014, Weingarten joined a mission with EI to meet with TUESWU in the wake of the Maidan protests and jointly collaborated to rebuild the headquarters of the union. In March 2022, the AFT led a mission to the Poland-Ukraine border to evaluate the conditions of refugees fleeing Ukraine. In October 2022, the AFT underwent its first mission into Ukraine since the war began, meeting with TUESWU in Lviv to discuss the needs of educators, resulting in a subsequent trip in February 2023 to provide 50 generators to schools across the Lviv region.

These missions led to this most recent one, building upon previous experiences and traveling to Kyiv for five days to discuss the current issues facing education and what the future holds for education in Ukraine.

Engagements

While in Kyiv, we received in-depth briefings from government officials, pan-national directors, civil society leaders, community leaders, local education administrators and many teachers―internally displaced persons, refugees and those who have stayed throughout the war. Our host organization was the Ukraine education union TUESWU. We contracted with a private security company connected to the Ukraine government.

We met with Minister of Education Oksen Lisovii, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, former Minister of Education and current director of Save Ed Anna Novosad, UNESCO director Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi and her team, and UNICEF head Murat Sahin and his team. We visited sites run by several organizations working with children and on education recovery―Save Ukraine, Save Ed and Voices of Children. Outside of Kyiv, we spent a day in Borodianka and Makariv meeting and talking with people in the communities.

Minister of Education

Ukraine Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi spoke on the needs of the country’s educators and students, highlighting the need for total reform focusing on psychological support and quality of education. When the war is over, teachers will need to be won back into the profession, especially those who are living outside of the country, and the key will be increasing salaries. Echoing the comments of Kyiv Mayor Klitschko, the minister made it clear that in order to successfully create a new education system, teachers will have to be paid what they deserve.

The minister also stressed the need to rebuild alongside as many partners as possible, making the process holistic and comprehensive. TUESWU President Georgiy Trukhanov stressed his willingness to work alongside the ministry, operating hand in hand to create a new system that is fair, equitable and sustainable.

Mayor of Kyiv

Kyiv Mayor Klitschko outlined the problems that all teachers are facing in the city, beginning with teacher salaries. With educators getting paid only $250 per month, the city of Kyiv has had to subsidize teacher salaries, a partial cause of 50 percent of the municipal budget going toward education.

Mayor Klitschko is passionate about reforming the system, calling the creation of a new education system the “only way to rebuild this country.” Without this reform, Ukraine will continue to see people entering the teaching profession and then leaving after only a couple of years due to poor conditions and salaries. Mayor Klitschko also reminded the delegation that the problems he outlined are taking place in the wealthiest part of the country, and that outside of the city it’s a whole other world. He ended the meeting by reiterating his dedication to the teaching profession and to working with the union, thanking the delegation for helping reinforce their connection.

TUESWU/FPU

Our mission was hosted by our partner in Ukraine, the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine, and its federation, the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, known as the FPU. TUESWU President Trukhanov passed along messages from his members explaining that they and their students are suffering more than we know. Over 3,000 schools have been destroyed, leading to over 5,300 schools engaging in distance learning. Teacher salaries have been slashed, with teachers receiving $250 per month for their work. This has made it harder to recruit and retain high-quality educators, who must also work through the trauma of the war and help their students overcome the psychological trauma inflicted upon them.

Trukhanov and FPU leaders imparted upon the delegation a clear message: They need international support that includes social partners and unions in the recovery process. They are the key to recovery, and without them, Ukraine cannot achieve its full potential. Their vision is clear: They want to live in a world where teachers and students see their future life in Ukraine; where sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights and international law are respected; and where everyone can choose their own path, free from aggression and coercion.

UNESCO

UNESCO’s Bardeschi, the head of the Kyiv desk, highlighted the importance of teacher rehabilitation and mental health. Providing funding for psychological support, alongside Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska and the presidential fund for education, UNESCO is hoping to provide mental health training to 15,000 psychologists and 25,000 teachers so that they can support themselves and over 160,000 children.

UNESCO emphasized that Ukraine’s education system needs comprehensive reform, not just mandates, that considers mental health and supporting teachers. Together alongside TUESWU, UNESCO is hopeful that it can advocate for greater inclusion of teachers in reform, and that it can use TUESWU’s existing infrastructure in its ongoing work helping educators work through their trauma.

UNICEF

At the core of UNICEF’s message was the reality that Ukraine needs resources. Teacher salaries are unacceptable, UNICEF is 64 percent underfunded, and the damage done to Ukraine has surpassed $440 billion. While UNICEF has over 220 nationals working around the country, they aren’t able to accomplish all of their goals while being underfunded. Instead, they’re focusing on helping those in the eastern regions of Ukraine, working with the government to provide unconditional direct cash payments to families and trying to give them access to the resources they so desperately need.

UNICEF is hopeful that it can begin working with TUESWU in helping plan the overhaul of the education system, creating one that is beneficial for children using the expertise that the union can provide.

Save Ukraine

Former Ukrainian Ombudsman for Children Mykola Kuleba heads Save Ukraine, a charity organization that works as a jack of all trades. We met with Kuleba against a backdrop of children as young as infants. He told the delegation about their efforts to bring children back from Russia who had been taken during the war. Save Ukraine helps reconnect these children with their families and then offers them space in one of their Hope and Healing Centers, centers of rehabilitation providing housing, food and psychological support.

Kuleba also showed the delegation one of their Community Centers, where over 3,000 children per month are provided with food, education and trauma therapy. Weingarten observed some of their lessons before offering her own symbol of hope to these children, dolls handcrafted by elementary school students in Florida and books donated by First Book.

Save Ed

Save Ed is an organization cofounded by former Ukrainian Minister of Education Anna Novosad. The organization works in liberated parts of Ukraine, fundraising to restore destroyed schools and arranging bomb shelters and learning spaces. We spoke with Novosad about the impact of the war on teachers, discussing how teachers have to work three to four hours more than before the war, on top of drone and missile attacks. This is causing a massive toll on educators, with nearly 60 percent of teachers in Ukraine suffering from burnout.

Save Ed is a key player in the restoration of schools, providing places of learning for children up to high school, who Save Ed is prioritizing through its UAct program, a mentoring program for high school students. Save Ed volunteer staff met the delegation in Borodianka and took us on a walking tour of the ruins of community centers and schools, ravished by Russian occupiers. To continue to do their work, however, they need more resources. Currently, Ukraine is receiving only $40 million from the Global Campaign for Education, a number that needs to be multiplied by 10 if there’s any hope of restoring Ukraine’s education system.

Voices of Children

The delegation observed a group trauma therapy session for children and their parents, in a series organized by the Voices of Children foundation. These sessions take place throughout eastern Ukraine and in communities that serve displaced children and families in Kyiv. This session took place in a local library and occurs once a week with a qualified psychiatrist.

School Visits

We visited two active schools during our time in Kyiv. The first, the Dominante School, is an elementary school located in the heart of the east side of the city. There, we witnessed the potential of education in Ukraine, through presentations hosted by the Ukrainian Federation of School Sports, exhibitions of technology in the school’s rocket club and a visit to the school’s rooftop observatory.

The second school, Liceum 34, is a high school that was damaged by a missile striking just a few yards away, with windows blown out and classrooms thrown into disarray. However, the delegation was able to view firsthand the school’s marvelous recovery. We handed out books to teachers and met with students, discussing their hope for the future.

The delegation also visited three schools in Borodianka and Makariv that were in various states of repair. One of these was a school being repaired as part of a Save Ed project. The organization is rebuilding the facility and building a bomb shelter, allowing the school to be used once again during the war. Another was a school that had been used as a base of operations for Russian forces retreating from around Kyiv, and the final was an abandoned kindergarten next to a bombed-out apartment complex.