Parents are appealing to the educational ombudsman with complaints about the lack of toilets, ventilation, and the presence of mold in school shelters. This was reported by the educational ombudsman of Ukraine, Nadiia Leshchyk, on Friday during a telethon, as conveyed by UNN.
Parents' complaints about the quality of school shelters
Leshchyk commented on the complaints received from parents regarding school shelters.
"Of course, they appeal, there are levers of influence. They appeal regarding inadequate conditions in shelters, referring to mold, lack of toilets, ventilation, so if a large number of children gather in a shelter, there must be good ventilation. They complain to us about prolonged construction. We had several appeals that construction started two years ago and they still cannot finish it. We must understand that we have a shortage of builders, because many builders are now at the front, and this also delays construction," Leshchyk said.
According to her, they recently considered an appeal from parents of a preschool educational institution, where, due to the very small shelter, not all children could fit, and so a shift system was organized for children to attend this kindergarten.
"Therefore, as a result, parents are forced to hire a nanny. We will appeal to the founder and ask to consider the possibility of expanding the shelter, adding on, possibly using the shelter of another legal entity located nearby. There are peculiarities here, as the children are of preschool age, and according to norms, the shelter should not be further than 500 meters from the educational institution, and for preschool children, the State Emergency Service's recommendation is no more than 100 meters," Leshchyk noted.
How much funding has been allocated this year
Leshchyk emphasized that in-person learning is possible where there are shelters.
"This year, the state allocated 6.2 billion UAH for shelters in general secondary education institutions. This is quite a significant sum, but we must understand that shelters are quite expensive to build. Such construction takes quite a long time. The number of schools that have been switched to in-person learning is increasing every year," the educational ombudsman said.
Leshchyk noted that preschool educational institutions are a problem, as there is no state subvention for shelters there.
"Communities cannot always ensure their construction of shelters. We receive complaints about this, but in the draft government action program for the coming years, funds will be allocated for shelters in preschool educational institutions," Leshchyk said.
Addition
The construction of a new school-shelter costs about 65 million. In total, over 170 projects worth more than 11 billion hryvnias are being implemented. 33 of them have already been put into operation.