The Olena Zelenska Foundation has provided over 38,000 laptops to Ukrainian teachers

Teachers from 12 regions of Ukraine have received 38,856 laptops for children's education. The final batch, totaling over 5,000 laptops, has arrived in Dnipropetrovsk region.

Since the beginning of 2023, the Olena Zelenska Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, HP and Microsoft companies, GBC-Education, the Ukraine House Foundation, and the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States, has been providing teachers from the Odessa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions with laptops and software. Last year, teachers from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions received laptops from the Foundation.

Today in Ukraine over 3,000 educational institutions have been damaged or completely destroyed, more than half of them are schools. In the front-line regions most schools remain empty due to the threat of shelling. Around 2.7 million students are forced to learn remotely or in a hybrid format. However, not all teachers can organize the learning process online due to the lack of technical capabilities. As a result, thousands of students are limited in their access to knowledge.

Every second teacher in Ukraine is currently not equipped with the necessary devices for distance learning. Approximately 82,000 educators are waiting for laptops. This includes teachers from the Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.

First Lady Olena Zelenska along with her team held an online meeting with Hanna Novikova, a computer science teacher for the 5th grade and an instructor of the STEM course at a school in Kryvyi Rih. Hanna has received a laptop as part of the project.

"Despite the constant Russian shelling, the teacher imparts the best and highest quality knowledge to her students, which will be invaluable after the victory. However, this knowledge is also crucial at present, as the children learn to think, make decisions, and find joy amidst the war. I’m glad that she will now be able to conduct her exciting lessons using quality equipment. And that will surely transform into the dreams and plans of many, many children," noted First Lady Olena Zelenska.

Education must be accessible to all students in Ukraine and should not depend on the technical capabilities of teachers in any way.

"Together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and our partners, we are doing everything to ensure that teachers have the opportunity to teach our children smoothly, wherever they may be - at home or in shelters. The example of Hanna Novikova is illustrative. Despite the lack of electricity, rockets, and constant air alarms, our teachers do the most important thing - they provide knowledge to our children. Our main task today is to support and help them in every possible way," emphasized Nina Horbachova, Director of the Olena Zelenska Foundation.

The Foundation's team strives for all Ukrainian teachers and students to have the opportunity to learn and be educated even during the war.

"For teachers, it's not just a gadget; it's about the possibility of teaching and about access to education for their students. Our team will continue to involve partners and international donor organizations to work together on restoring the educational process, so that all children have the opportunity to learn. Access to education is a fundamental right of children, for which we are currently fighting against the circumstances and challenges of war," said Yevhen Kudriavets, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine for European Integration.