Obolon is ready, Troyeshchyna is not: What will education in Kyiv schools look like after February 2

On February 2, 419 schools in Kyiv will return to classes after a two-week forced vacation caused by the critical situation with electricity and heat. This return comes at a time when there is a new wave of twenty-degree frosts in the capital.

There is no single mechanism for returning to school in Kyiv. Each school will choose whether it will be in-person, remote or mixed format. The readiness of schools varies from district to district. How Kyiv is trying to keep the educational process going and what will determine the light and heat in school classrooms – investigated by LIGA.net.

From classrooms to points of indestructibility. Heat is the key to success

Since the beginning of the Russian aggressor's massive attacks on the energy system, one of the schools in the Obolon district of Kyiv has become a center of resilience for the neighborhood's residents. It welcomes anyone who wants to keep warm, drink hot tea, or recharge their gadgets or even entire charging systems. There are sockets and power banks everywhere in the building.

There is even a breastfeeding booth in the school lobby. In one of the classrooms, there are armchairs and a couch for those who want to take a break. Everyone is treated to tea, coffee and sweets. The Bakhmut and Kramatorsk communities brought cookies and sweets to Obolon residents. As soon as the power and heating went out in the area, people in the evacuation immediately organized themselves and sent provisions to Kyiv.

On Monday, this educational institution will start accepting children again, as the educational process resumes.

The Obolon district state administration assures that all schools in the district are ready for classes, and the temperature in the premises meets the standards of at least 20 degrees Celsius. At the same time, each institution will determine the format of training independently.

"We will open as planned, if there are no force majeure events. All schools will be ready by Monday. We have heat, thermal modernization has been carried out almost everywhere. Different districts have different power sources. Obolon has its own source that covers a large part of the district – us and Podil. The catastrophe at CHP-6 did not affect us so critically: only part of the district," said LIGA.net kyrylo Fesyk, head of the Obolon District State Administration.

The district state administration notes that the situation in the district remains stable. Even in the most difficult periods, there were no critical incidents. Moreover, cultural institutions and out-of-school education continued to operate.

"Extracurricular activities did not stop. There were music schools and art classes. We made the decision to accept children, and the training continued. Even during the two-week vacation, the children kept coming to classes," said LIGA.net olga Bondarchuk, Head of the Culture Department of the Obolon District State Administration in Kyiv.

Schools have generators, but not for education

The situation in the Podil district of Kyiv also remains stable. On Monday, children will return to school, but in some schools the educational process will be conducted in a mixed format.

In most schools in the capital, heating is directly dependent on electricity supply.

In November 2025, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Valentyn Mondriyivskyi reported that more than two-thirds of the capital's educational institutions are equipped with modern individual heating stations. During the heating season, such IHSs allow heating to be regulated depending on the weather. This is economically beneficial. But it also means that there is an automatic device with pumps between the city heating network and the institution. Which do not work without electricity.

If the power goes out for a long time, the batteries in the schools get cold, and the temperature in the rooms drops.

"When there is no power for a long time – there was a period when there was no power for about 22 hours – the heating in the school goes out. And then, frankly, it gets cold," says the director of a Podil school in a conversation with LIGA.net.

In the winter of 2023, this problem was solved by means of long vacations. This year, the end of the holidays falls just in time for the worst frosts.

Podil district also has five hub schools, the same number as Obolon district. These are schools equipped with individual or mobile boilers. They will definitely have no problems with heating. But if there is an emergency and the security or energy situation deteriorates significantly, the premises of these schools will be used as heating hubs and they will switch to remote mode.

In Sviatoshynskyi district, schools are also starting classes. Each educational institution in the capital will decide on its own whether to use a face-to-face or online format. Therefore, schooling will take place mainly in a mixed format.

Almost all schools in the city have generators. But not for the needs of educators, but solely to support the work of invincibility points or shelters. It is forbidden to use these generators to power the kitchen or an individual heating point.

Therefore, most schools are determined to limit the opening hours of the institution to daylight hours, as long as sunlight can compensate for the lack of electricity.

"It is impossible to study without heating". What is the situation on the Left Bank?

In Desnianskyi district, the situation is radically different. After the latest Russian attacks, Troyeschyna and Lesnyi Massif suffered the most, and the situation here remains stalemated.

The head of the district, Maksym Bakhmatov, in an interview with LIGA.net is skeptical: learning without heating is impossible.

"We are waiting for a response from the Department of Education. The minimum indoor temperature is +18," he said.

For example, in one of the district's schools, children will study only online, as there is no heating. The school has a generator, but it is used exclusively for the operation of the invincibility center.

Another school in the Desnianskyi district will start using the mixed learning format on February 2, as it is a hub school. Here, in addition to warming up and drinking hot tea, you can also stay overnight.

According to the director, the school has a mobile boiler room, and centralized heating was restored the day before. At the same time, about 100-150 children will be enrolled in full-time education. Therefore, the pedagogical council decided to opt for a mixed format.

"We conducted a survey. Not many children will come out in person – more than 800 have left the city. You understand the situation in the district. The school is warm because it is a hub school. And in people's homes it is 2, 3, 4, 5 degrees. Some people have the opportunity to leave, and some do not," said LIGA.net director of the Opera Lyceum Oksana Petruniok.

There is no single scenario for returning to education in Kyiv. Nor is there a universal algorithm of actions that would allow us to establish an effective educational process.

There are 419 schools to which the Department of Education of the Kyiv City State Administration has transferred responsibility for organizing the educational process. Each of them is guided by its own capabilities: the availability of heat, light and the willingness of parents to send their children to class. The rest will be decided by the weather and the consequences of the next shelling.

The Department of Education of the Kyiv City State Administration to explain its vision of the situation LIGA.net i could not – they say there is no light to prepare a proper response. However, as the representative of the department noted in the conversation, this should not interfere with the educational process. According to her, "the situation in schools is better than ours."