In Ukraine, the number of teachers is declining: by 2030, there will be a shortage of 108,000 teachers, or one third of the total. Foreign language and science teachers are the most sought after, and the shortage is particularly acute in communities close to the front line. Schools that lack teachers unsurprisingly have lower levels of student preparedness, adding to the stress caused by war, daily difficulties and prolonged online learning. Overall, the large-scale Russian invasion has resulted in educational losses equivalent to two years of schooling.

Olena Tkalich spoke with Snizhana Oleksun, an English and social studies teacher in Kryvyi Rih, the small hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky and a major industrial city in the Dnipropetrovsk region, whose borders are currently disputed by Russian invaders. She spoke about underground schools, prospects for young people in this mining town, and the lives of teachers in a war context.

As teachers’ salaries are low, averaging around 15,000 hryvnias [€310], and there is a shortage of teachers, Snizhana works at the school, at the college and gives private English lessons.

“My working day starts at 8 a.m. and usually ends at 8 p.m., sometimes even 9 p.m. But I’m exaggerating a little. It’s only lessons until 8 p.m. On top of that, when you get home, you have to fill out a whole bunch of paperwork. There are teaching methods, electronic files in which you must record information, and checking notebooks. The workload is enormous. On top of that, parents are constantly calling you, so you have to be available all the time. Right now, you have to know where every child is at all times. Not to mention the sleepless nights with the sirens and bombings. And every teacher has their own problems, you understand,” explains Snizhana.

Her husband and son serve in the Ukrainian army, and among her former students are young people who have voluntarily enlisted in the army.

“It’s very difficult for me to talk about it because they are my best students. They graduated in 2019. Dania Kozlov was in a reconnaissance company and was killed. He was the pride of our group,” she says.

When asked what motivates her to continue working in education, Snizhana replies that she comes from a family of teachers and has never thought of doing anything else.

‘I’m simply passionate about this job. I love it very much and it’s clearly my vocation, what I feel deep down inside. You understand, you have to work. And it’s undoubtedly the children’s eyes, which shine when they acquire new knowledge, that motivate you,’ Snizhana emphasises.

How does ‘underground’ education work?

By the end of 2025, 180 underground schools are expected to be built in Ukraine. Three of them are currently under construction in Kryvyi Rih. However, at the school where Snizhana works, the entire educational process has already been transferred ‘underground’.

“At school, we work in a shelter all the time. My lessons start in the shelter and we don’t move (in the event of an air raid alert, teachers are required to take the children to the shelter, editor’s note). On the one hand, it’s practical, but on the other, it’s annoying because there are no doors between the classrooms and you can constantly hear the other teachers and children, so there’s constant noise. This distracts the children, so you have to keep their attention throughout the lesson and come up with different ways and methods to keep them interested and prevent them from getting distracted. We were given new furniture this year, and new interactive whiteboards. But all of this is underground. The children get sick very often because these conditions are not suitable for everyone. In fact, they are not suitable for anyone. Even with great ventilation, when you arrive in the morning, you can’t breathe,” explains Snizhana.

In secondary school, on the other hand, children study in their usual classrooms and partly online. In addition, the school has many buildings, between which pupils have to constantly move around the city. It is very difficult to ensure that everyone gets to shelter in the event of an alert. For safety reasons, but also because they cannot leave the country after the age of 18, many children go abroad.

“This year, after the latest bombing of the Yuvileiny playground (which killed 18 people, including 9 children, editor’s note), many left school. Parents come to pick up their children because they are worried. Safety comes first, education is secondary. They leave [abroad] almost every day. It is mainly children who are in secondary school after their first year who are leaving. There are quite a few of them. When they reach the age of 16, they even leave on their own. And they start to adapt to life and work. Often, they continue their secondary education online. As long as it’s possible, but we don’t know what will happen with the new laws,” says Snizhana.

This summer, there was a debate about reducing online education because it would have a negative impact on quality. However, the Ministry of Education and Research finally agreed that each school should decide for itself what form of education to provide.

‘To switch completely to offline teaching, we would need total security. But that doesn’t exist. And the bombings are constant. Last night, a sports school for children was hit and completely destroyed,’ Snizhana laments.

According to her, many teachers are also leaving the country due to the combination of risks and low salaries.

‘This is particularly true of those who teach English. Even if they complete their university studies, they do not want to go and work in a school for a pittance. So they open their own private establishments,’ she notes.

At the same time, there are many internally displaced persons. Its proximity to the east and its lifestyle similar to that of a large industrial city have made Kryvyi Rih an important reception centre for displaced persons.

‘At my school, I have boys who even left the region when the war broke out in Donbas in 2014. They live in a town almost outside the city. Transport there is very poor. But that doesn’t stop them from studying well,’ explains the teacher.

In addition, in the context of the war, special safety courses have been set up in schools and colleges.

“There are sessions dedicated to safety at work, where we constantly talk to children about the dangers of mines. We all underwent appropriate training when the war broke out and obtained certificates. In addition, we organise compulsory courses on internet safety to teach pupils to take all information with a critical eye and not to allow themselves to be provoked,” adds Snizhana.

Ukraine remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. In three years of Russian invasion, 336 people have been killed by explosive devices in Ukraine, including 18 children, and 825 people have been injured. Over the past year, there have been increasing cases of Russian special services recruiting teenagers and forcing them to set fire to military vehicles or bring explosives to military installations. Several minors have been killed or seriously injured. At the same time, a few months ago, the SBU announced that two boys aged 14 and 17 from Kryvyi Rih had refused to work for the FSB [Russian intelligence service] and had informed the law enforcement agencies of recruitment attempts. They were rewarded for their actions.

Why labour shortages do not lead to higher wages

In recent years, particularly in the context of the war, there has been ongoing discussion about the acute shortage of skilled labour in the country. This includes people capable of working in complex industries, including the military. After the rapid deindustrialisation of the 1990s, the country’s economy shifted towards the service sector, and the prestige of blue-collar professions and, consequently, vocational education declined significantly. However, Kryvyi Rih remains a city of metallurgists with an appropriate educational infrastructure.

‘We are an industrial city, with mines, quarries and factories. That is why the college focuses on professions that will be in demand in our city. Welders, electricians, IT specialists and software specialists,’ explains Snizhana.

According to her, college students here are not considered outsiders and, for the most part, they go on to higher education, already clearly focusing on a specific specialisation and experience. Today, they are gaining this experience earlier than usual because Kryvyi Rih’s metallurgical giants are short of manpower. At the beginning of the invasion, when the occupiers cut off the logistics routes to the Sea of Azov, many companies ceased operations and laid off their employees. Most of them ended up joining the army. But today, new routes have been found for transporting iron ore and other products. College students are therefore actively involved in this process.

‘At the ArcelorMittal factory (formerly Kryvorizhstal, now part of the world’s largest metallurgical company – editor’s note), children have switched to individual tuition and started working from their second year onwards. So you can understand how badly we need workers,’ Snizhana points out.

And yet, according to her, there is a paradox: young specialists are offered a minimum wage, which they refuse. As a result, some of the graduates who could gain experience, higher qualifications and, ultimately, a better salary, are lost.

“Among last year’s graduates was a young woman whose entire family are electricians. She went to work in a factory, but the salary there is 7,000 hryvnias [€144]. For young people who want to live independently from their parents and rent accommodation, this is too little. That’s why, of course, they go to work as baristas or in food shops, where salaries are twice as high. Many also leave for Kyiv to earn a living, where they are not officially registered but work illegally in construction,” notes the teacher.

When asked what role college graduates will play in rebuilding the country, Snizhana replies that it is too early to say.

“For now, everyone is thinking first and foremost about their safety. Children are being evacuated en masse. And those who remain, will they be able to cope emotionally, physically and psychologically? Reconstruction is a secondary issue for now, in my opinion,” she says.

Almost all the students and teachers at her college and school have relatives in the army. But last year, some chose to study at college to avoid conscription. *« Comment puis-je réagir à cela ? C’est une question provocante. J’ai deux fils qui font la guerre… » sighs Snizhana.

At the end of July, during the anti-corruption protests, she joined the movement in Kryvyi Rih, holding up a placard that read: ‘For decent living conditions’.

Currently, the authorities recognise the problem of teacher shortages, mainly due to low salaries. According to the laws ‘On Education’ and ‘On General Secondary Education’, the minimum salary for a teacher in Ukraine must be at least equal to three minimum wages. In 2025, this will amount to 24,000 hryvnias [€496] per month. However, in practice, this standard is postponed each year when the state budget is adopted. The Minister of Education, Oksen Lisovyi, has stated that in 2026, the ‘teacher bonus’ should be increased by 1,000 hryvnias [€22] from January, then by an additional 2,000 hryvnias from September. However, this requires funding of 40 billion hryvnias, which, in a tight budgetary context, remains uncertain.

Olena Tkalich, journalist, editor-in-chief of the Socportal news agency, activist with Sotsialnyi Rukh.

 Snizhana Oleksun, teacher