The transformation of Ukraine’s schools is starting, following official approval for the programme at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, which includes €4.8 million funding from the Belgian government.

This is not simply rebuilding destroyed buildings. Instead, it is a complete rethinking of education, away from the Soviet-era schools based on totalitarian logic to modern, child-centric places that encourage learning and trust.

This is the first stage of a wider education programme, with Belgium providing total funding of over €21 million. The new schools, based on the values of the New Ukrainian School, will be child-centric modern places where children can learn different disciplines in classrooms, laboratories and workshops, create joint projects, and play.

They will be safe and secure, and energy efficient. And they will provide the platform for children to learn to trust themselves and the world, preparing them to live and work in a prospering Ukraine, integrated into Europe. 

Work has started on the first war-damaged school in a de-occupied village in the Kyiv region. The schools’ transformation programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine with the support of Rinat Akhmetov’s  SCM businesses Metinvest and DTEK, based on the concepts developed by Mariupol Reborn in cooperation with the executive partner Big City Lab and Lithuanian architectural NGO Rebuild the Wonderful. 

The initiative is being driven by Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Science and Technology Education at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. He said: "When we started working with the Ministry of Education and Science, we began to transform education.

“We quickly realised that we need to change everything: the content and meaning of education and also the school spaces. There is no question that space affects human thinking.

“Our vision is that schools should be like a small Google or Netflix office, where breakthrough ideas and dreams are born." The school is in a typical O-shape, in the centre of the village.

The transformation will create a public square in front of the entrance, which will become a focal point for the entire community. The area will be transparent and visible from different angles, providing a safe environment. 

The inner courtyard of the school will become an open space for learning and relaxing in the fresh air, with glass walls to bring the outside in. The entrance area will be alive and dynamic, a place where students, parents and residents of the village will gather to communicate and hold events.

The corridors will be equipped with seating and working areas, and the assembly hall will be used for school and community events. Natalia Yemchenko, member of the Supervisory Boards of Mariupol Reborn and the Heart of Azovstal, and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of SCM, said: "One of the great transformations for the better that Ukrainian cities need is to become more people-centric, starting with schools because children are our future.

“We are not restoring our schools. We are transforming them into comfortable, favourable environments for learning and development.

“This war has been awful in so many ways, but the silver lining is that it gives us the opportunity to rethink and to start again. We sincerely hope this first school transformation will inspire others to make similar changes."

The partnership between the Ministry of Education and Science and the Belgian government includes a number of initiatives, covering continuity of education, development of public-private partnerships, the exchange of experiences between institutions in both countries, and retraining programmes.