VOA · Education
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:382024-09-03public domain
The Education beat reports on schools, universities, and learning trends worldwide. Expect academic vocabulary in a news format — a good bridge between everyday English and the lecture-style audio used in exams like IELTS Section 4.
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01Schoolchildren in the southern Ukrainian city Zaporizhia celebrated the traditional first day of school on Sunday.
02The ceremonies began just hours after warnings of Russian air raids sounded through the city.
03Zaporizhia is just 40 kilometers from the war's front.
04That danger is never far from the minds of teachers and families at one of the city's schools.
05Russian artillery and missiles strike there so often that local officials were forced to ban large gatherings.
06Only students starting their first or last years could take part in the ceremony.
07The Associated Press is not identifying the school for security reasons.
08The children wore traditional Ukrainian clothing and carried flowers.
09Each first-year student held the hand of a final-year student in a small parade.
10The school once had 800 students, but about 300 fled the city seeking safer places.
11The remaining children alternate one week of study at school with one week of online study.
12That is because the school's bomb shelter can hold only around 250 people.
13That shelter is about 75 meters away from the main school building across an open playground.
14School director Kostjantin Lipsky said the youngest students work in a classroom just above the underground shelter.
15The rest of the school operates in the main building.
16We prepared everything for the new school year.
17We equipped the bunker in case of air alarms, so children will have a safe space, because our school will continue lessons during the air raid alarms in the bunker, he said.
18Sunday's ceremony went on without problems.
19Olha Komorova Lesko is the mother of an 11th grader and a 6th grader.
20She said she was hopeful for the coming school year.
21She sees it as the best solution for the present conditions.
22We are happy that the children had the chance to go to the celebration today, just as in the pre-war times, she said.
23This is really exciting and joyful.
24Russia launched large numbers of missiles and drones on the capital, Kiev, Monday, wounding three people and damaging schools.
25On Tuesday, Russian missiles killed at least 41 people and wounded over 180 in Poltova, a city in the central eastern part of Ukraine.
26I'm Katie Weaver.
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