UGCC Head: We are grateful to our educators for remaining in Ukraine. It is heroic to be a teacher during wartime
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, addressed a special message to Ukrainian educators, calling their work in wartime “national heroism.” On November 12, in Buchach, at the end of the Liturgy marking the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the St. Josaphat Lyceum in Buchach, the Head of the Church thanked teachers for their courage, commitment to their calling, and service to Ukrainian children.
The Primate recalled the alarming figures announced during last year’s Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Zarvanytsia. According to official statistics, 250,000 Ukrainian children cannot read or write. “We thought that illiteracy was something that remained far behind in the 20th century. It seems it is not,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Primate shared his experience of a recent conversation with teachers from Kropyvnytskyi: “They tell me: the only available form of education is remote, online learning. And the electricity is shut off for two hours every hour or two.”
The situation is particularly painful for children who, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the war, have never had the experience of normal schooling. “Today we have middle school students, girls and boys who are in fifth grade but have never been to school,” noted the Head of the UGCC. These children do not know “what it means to sit at a desk, to have a teacher in front of them, and next to them a friend, a peer with whom they can grow and learn.”
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, 75% of children in Ukraine today are simply unable to learn because they are under constant stress. “And therefore, to motivate them to study certain school lessons and subjects, one must be a master,” he said.
The Primate said that the UGCC is actively pursuing ways to support Ukrainian schools. “What is needed from the Church? To support our teachers, to be there for them,” he said, mentioning chaplaincy in schools.
Addressing the students of the Buchach Lyceum, the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church emphasized: “Friends, you know that you indeed have extraordinary, I would say, five-star conditions for studying well. Do not waste this gift, because it is a gift from God in the midst of war. Other young people your age in other cities of Ukraine, even in Kyiv, do not have that opportunity. Value it.”
In conclusion, His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his deep gratitude to Ukrainian educators: “Today we are grateful to our educators for not leaving Ukraine, for not going somewhere far away in the West in search of better salaries, but for heroically and courageously staying close to Ukrainian students. And they share with them not only their knowledge, but also their hearts.”
The UGCC Department for Information
