More than 200,000 Ukrainian schoolchildren are taking classes online
In Ukraine, more than 200,000 schoolchildren are already studying online, and this number remains consistently high due to the war, security risks, and families relocating, according to Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi, who explained that distance learning has become not an exception but part of the country’s new educational reality.
The main reason for this format is safety, as a significant number of children simply cannot return to in-person schools, especially in frontline regions, while others continue their studies online alongside their classmates even after relocating abroad or to other regions of Ukraine. Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi stated this in an interview with Radio Liberty.
According to Oksen Lisovyi, the largest number of children studying remotely come from the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, where in-person learning is either impossible or significantly limited due to constant threats of shelling. The minister emphasized that the state continues to invest specifically in these regions, as children there often want to return to regular school but do not have that opportunity.
Another large group consists of children of internally displaced persons who have chosen to remain in the online format in order to complete their studies at their home school and maintain contact with their classmates and teachers. Additionally, approximately 60,000 Ukrainian children are currently abroad and continue their education in the Ukrainian system remotely, without fully transferring to foreign schools.
The Minister of Education emphasized that a return to in-person learning directly depends on the security situation in the country, and for now, this factor remains decisive for most regions. At the same time, he noted, online education is no longer a temporary solution and is gradually becoming a full-fledged part of the educational system. “We have over 200,000 students who are studying online for various reasons,” Lisovyi noted, emphasizing that among them are both children from frontline territories and those who are forced to study from abroad.
He also added that a blended learning format is possible in the future, where online learning will be combined with in-person activities, including extracurricular education, clubs, and social life at schools. “A normal school is an in-person school, but online tools will remain part of the learning process,” the minister explained, effectively outlining the model toward which Ukrainian education may be moving.
The Ministry of Education and Science states that there has been no mass exodus of students abroad following changes to the rules for leaving the country. On the contrary, they report steady interest in Ukrainian education and an increase in registrations for the National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT).
In 2026, the National Multidisciplinary Test in Ukraine attracted over 350,000 registrations, and this figure has been rising for the third consecutive year.
