The number of schools in Ukraine is rapidly decreasing

The total number of state, communal and private schools continues to decline. This was stated in the Education.ua material on Thursday, October 24.

“Over the past four years, our country has lost a fifth of rural schools. In the cities, the situation is also alarming, although less dramatic: the number of schools has decreased by 5%,” said study.

Analysts note that in the 2020/2021 academic year, a total of 14,815 schools operate in Ukraine, and in 2023/2024 there are only 12,701 of them, that is, in four years there are 14% less schools.

“There are now 7,439 rural schools, while in 2020/2021 there were 9,293,” the analysts said.

Education.ua says that the main reason for closing schools is the decrease in the number of students: forced migration, demographic problems.

“This year, 14% fewer children went to school than in 2023. At the same time, over the past four years, the number of first-graders has decreased by 31%: in 2021 there were 400,173, while in 2024 – 278,083, ” – the publication wrote.

Education.ua added that the educational reform aimed at optimizing schools actually required the closure or merger of institutions, leaving many small communities without schools. In addition, the innovation will force schools to suspend work if they are unable to organize face-to-face teaching and recruit distance classes.

“In practice, this means that next school year there will be fewer schools,” the article said.

Six underground schools will appear in Kharkov. Three of them are planned to be completed in the near future.

We remind you that the authorities of the Zaporozhye region are planning to open underground schools.