Ukraine: Education brings mental health support to children

<p>Read how GPE and partners are helping increase the capacity of Ukraine’s educators to provide children with mental health services.</p>

Ukraine: Education brings mental health support to children

Ukraine: Education brings mental health support to children
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Story highlights

  • The war in Ukraine has affected the well-being of five million school-age children.
  • GPE and partners are helping increase the capacity of Ukraine’s educators to provide children with mental health services.
  • More than 60,000 education professionals have been trained in psychosocial support and school safety to reinforce children’s well-being.

This story was written in collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF.

Alyona Kolisnyk

"I have children in my class whose parents are soldiers. Some are waiting for their father or mother to call, some are waiting for both parents to call. These children need a lot of attention, support and help from teachers. We are an authority in the eyes of children, and we must be able to provide psychological help to them."

Alyona Kolisnyk
Primary school teacher, Balta Lyceum No. 2, Odesa region

More than two years into the war in Ukraine, one thing has become painstakingly evident to Alyona and other educators throughout the country: the harm caused by the ongoing conflict is far from limited to the physical. An invisible and often overlooked battle has been securing the well-being of Ukraine’s students.

Ukraine is home to around 5 million school-age children. For many of them, the displacement, violence and disruption of essential services has meant acute and chronic stress, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, sleep problems, fatigue, irritability or anger.

Recognizing the toll exacted on children’s mental health, Ukraine has prioritized equipping the education sector to deal with the challenge.

With the National Program for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, led by First Lady Olena Zelenska, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is working with partners to develop policies, protocols and tools to provide students with the support they need.

Dmytro Zavgorodnii

"Before the war, we thought that we needed at least one counselling professional in each school. Right now, I think that all teachers should have some level of experience in mental health support for children because there are so many children who rely on their teachers for this."

Dmytro Zavgorodnii
Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Ukraine

In the words of children

Vasilisa Sakun, grade 6 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region

“Before the war, I could go see my sister and my grandmothers. Now my grandmothers are in areas still under occupation, and it is difficult to visit my sister. As for my classmates, I see a couple of them in person sometimes, and the rest I see only online in class. I used to love going to dancing and drawing classes, but these clubs have been closed. I have started going back to school, and I have lots of fun there. I have friends. But my mom doesn't let me go often because of air alerts and bombings.”

Vasilisa Sakun, grade 6 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region
Ivan Vasiliev, grade 11 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region

“During the occupation, I dreamed of studying because I was tired of sitting at home and doing nothing. I did a bit of research on the internet, tried to understand the subjects, but self-study was difficult. The most difficult thing was to keep my spirits up because it was psychologically very pressuring.”

Ivan Vasiliev, grade 11 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region
Iryna Vradiy, grade 10 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region

“An ordinary girl, I studied and seemed to have a normal life. I thought I had a few problems, but now I realize that I had nothing to complain about. I was 12 at the beginning of the invasion, and I celebrated my 13th birthday during the occupation. I tried to study on my own, but we lost internet access. In the beginning, you could catch it somewhere in the apartment, but then we had to climb on the roof for a signal. It was scary because drones were flying around.”

Iryna Vradiy, grade 10 student, Snihurivka Lyceum, Mykolaiv region

Ensuring schools can support students’ well-being

Teachers and school psychologists have become the first responders to the emotional crisis brought on by the war.

Tetyana Savchuk

“Unfortunately, many of our children have parents who are defending our country. There are children whose parents are in captivity and children whose parents have died. We observe anxiety in our children and manifestation of aggression. Some children have withdrawn completely, refusing to engage or communicate. Very often, children simply do not have anyone to talk to about what is bothering them.”

Tetyana Savchuk
Practical psychologist, Oles Honchar Lyceum No. 1, Odesa region

Tetyana’s school is one of 244 educational institutions across the war-affected regions of Odesa and Zhytomyr that participated in a training program in 2024 on school safety, mental health, psychosocial support and social-emotional learning.

Teams made up of teachers, principals, school psychologists, school security personnel and parents/caregivers from all schools in the two regions completed 5 days of online training followed by 1 day of in-person practical training, including simulation exercises.

  • Boldyreva Hanna Volodymyrivna, methodologist of the Scientific-Methodological Laboratory of Management Activities, gives a lesson to teachers and school leaders during training on school safety and psychosocial support for students in Balta, Odesa Region, Ukraine.
    Credit: GPE/Oleksandr Techynskyi

  • Balbuza Olena, head of the Odesa Regional Resource Centre for support of inclusive education, gives a lesson to teachers and school leaders during training on school safety and psychosocial support for students in Balta, Odesa Region, Ukraine.
    Credit: GPE/Oleksandr Techynskyi

The training was made possible thanks to a GPE Multiplier grant of US$25.5 million, which matched a total of $25.5 million in cash and in-kind support from Microsoft, Google and UNESCO, totaling $51 million in education assistance for Ukraine.

Implemented by UNESCO, the training is one component of several grant activities.

All 7,400 teachers in Odesa and Zhytomyr were trained in school safety and psychosocial support, benefiting 38,000 students.

Danijel Cuturic

“If children’s mental health issues are not addressed, they cannot learn and develop to their full potential. To design this program, we went to schools to talk to parents, teachers and local authorities. Their primary objective was physical safety, but when we continued talking, it became clear that something was missing: mental health needs to be addressed as well. Imagine a situation in which children have to worry every day if their father will return from the front line, if they will have to move and evacuate, if their friends will be in school the next day. This is what we call toxic stress, and it negatively impacts children’s emotional, psychological, cognitive and behavioral development.”

Danijel Cuturic
Education Programs Coordinator, UNESCO Ukraine

The training covers the following topics:

  • Organizational competence, such as skills in interacting with cross-sectoral partners (emergency services, communities) and the ability to organize and coordinate emergency response teams within a school.
  • Crisis response competence, such as mastery of instructions on how to respond to various emergencies (war-related, natural, technological) and development of psychological readiness for working under stress.
  • Addressing challenges and threats, such as knowledge of safety principles, competence in violence prevention and response, and skills in cybersecurity.
  • Psychological resilience, such as understanding the concept of psychological safety and using a trauma-informed approach in interactions with children and colleagues.
  • Monitoring and support of the educational process, such as knowledge of methods for assessing the effectiveness of safety measures implemented.
  • Firefighters train teachers and school leaders on how to use fire extinguishers at Balta Lyceum No. 1, Odesa Region, Ukraine.
    Credit: GPE/Oleksandr Techynskyi

  • A teacher practices using a fire extinguisher during training on school safety and psychosocial support for students at Balta Lyceum No. 1, Odesa Region, Ukraine.
    Credit: GPE/Oleksandr Techynskyi

Recognizing the importance of this program, the education ministry has since made the training available to all schools in Ukraine. So far, over 61,000 teachers—almost 20% of all teachers in the country—have enrolled in the online training.

School teachers from Balta, Odesa Oblast, take part in a ‘Creating a safe educational environment’ training

Practical ways schools are supporting children’s well-being

Oles Honchar Lyceum No. 1 has created a gadget-free zone with games and soft pillows where children can go to take off their shoes, sit down and relax.

The school has also implemented a mental health program called “How Are You?”, which incorporates exercises that help children cope with stress, such as breathing techniques and exercises to relieve muscle tension and help children distract themselves from the war and worrying thoughts. These simple, effective techniques help children manage anxiety, stress and aggression.

At Balta Lyceum No. 2, the staff organizes events with families, recognizing that parents also struggle with anxiety. For example, the school held a sports match between a team of teachers and a team of parents, cheered on by the students.

This is one way the school aims to build positive emotions and maintain a connection with the community.

Getting more children back in school

Getting more children back in school

Almost 2,000 schools remain damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war, so getting all children back into schools is complex.

While many students have been able to return to school in person, around 1.2 million continue to access education online or through a blended format of online and in-person learning.

GPE and partners are helping alleviate the problem. Thanks to a combination of financial support, implementation support from UNICEF and in-kind support from Microsoft and Google, the education ministry has opened 39 Digital Learning Centers with computers and an internet connection in places where in-person education is not possible.

Students go there to connect to online classes, study in a quiet space or with peers, and participate in catch-up classes with teachers. It is also a place where students can hang out, play games and talk with one another, providing much-needed opportunities for social interaction.

UNESCO and UNICEF have coordinated on integrating the psychosocial support and social-emotional learning in Digital Learning Centers to ensure children at the centers benefit from the same well-being interventions as children in regular schools.

Svitlana Bilousova

“It is much better when we work with students offline and in classrooms. When you are in contact with a child, it is important to hold their hand when they are having a hard time.”

Svitlana Bilousova
Primary school teacher, Balta Lyceum No. 2, Odesa region

As Ukraine’s education system fights on two fronts—rebuilding infrastructure and healing mental and emotional scars—its teachers and students are determined to persevere. “These are our children," says Svitlana. "They deserve a better future, a peaceful, happy childhood."

January 2025