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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ukraine Education
HEAD: Schools and Educational Aspirations Crushed in Ukraine War Zones
SUBHEAD: As war draws closer to the eastern city of Lyman, remaining students say online education is only nominally better than no education at all.
PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday, 07/26/2023 at 1pm
BYLINE: Heather Murdock
DATELINE: LYMAN, UKRAINE
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yevhenii Shynkar
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: pcd, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE: VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO x_
TRT: 2:15
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[Thousands of schools have been damaged and hundreds destroyed during the war in Ukraine. And for many students living near the battle zones, getting an education has become a near impossibility. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports with Yevhenii Shynkar in Lyman, Ukraine. First a note. This report contains graphic images some may find disturbing.]]
((NARRATOR:))
Every school in the city of Lyman, Ukraine has been damaged and many are destroyed.
This school was hit before the city was captured by Russia in May 2022, and it has remained shut down since Ukraine took the city back four months later.
[[FOR RADIO: Here are Lyman 9th graders, Zakhar and Maxim.]]
((NATS, Zakhar and Maxim talking, 9th Grade Students)) ((Young males in Russian))
Zakhar: “Over here we ran long and short distances [for gym class]. Here we played football. On the second floor was a cafeteria. On the first floor was an assembly room.”
Maxim: “We had assemblies there.”
Zakhar: “In the basement we had industrial arts and health classes.”
[[FOR RADIO: They point out the place where they used to play football, and where in the rubble was once their cafeteria and health class.]]
((NARRATOR:))
Now, as the battles once again approach Lyman, with an attack killing eight civilians in early July, students say they are facing yet another year of the online education that
began with pandemic lockdowns. Local leaders say volunteers provide some supplies and internet links.
((Nadiya Didenko, Lyman City Council)) ((Female in Ukrainian))
“They are not enough, but they provided us with laptops, tablets, printers and stationery items, but it was very, very difficult.”
[[FOR RADIO: Nadiya Didenko heads the department of youth and sports for the Lyman city council. She says volunteers have supplied laptops, tablets and other school supplies.]]
((NARRATOR:))
But students say supplies are useless when battles draw near, as the internet is down, or only available in hospitals or military bases. The Ukrainian government says thousands of schools have been damaged in the war and hundreds are destroyed.
((REST OPTIONAL))
Studying online under these conditions is better than no education at all, but just barely, says Zakhar.
((Zakhar, Lyman 9th Grade Student)) ((Young male in Russian)) (upper case for Grade and Student)
“I'd rather study at school than on the phone online. On the phone, sometimes the topics are not even clear. At school they will explain everything to you, show you, and you write things down, go to the blackboard, answer questions.”
[[FOR RADIO: He says he would rather study at school than on the phone or online. On the phone he says sometimes even the topics are not clear. He misses the explanations he got at school, where students could go to the blackboard and answer questions.]]
((NARRATOR:))
Other students tell us they are forgetting more from their in-person school days than they are currently learning.
In Lyman, there are just over 500 children struggling to get an education, as most families have long fled the area. Across Ukraine, millions of children’s educations have been disrupted. Millions more children have fled the country and more than 500 have been killed.
((Heather Murdock, VOA News, Lyman, Ukraine))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 26, 2023 13:15 EDT
BylineHeather Murdock
Brand / Language ServiceUS Agency for Global Media, Voice of America - English