Shelters are in place, now they're checking the air: Mykolaiv has started improving ventilation in schools and kindergartens

A full inspection of ventilation systems has already been carried out in 86 educational shelters in Mykolaiv. The progress of the inspections was reported yesterday at a staff meeting by the head of the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council, Hanna Lychko.

To check and maintain the ventilation, the Department of Education held a tender and signed a contract with a contractor. Regarding problems found and the completion deadline, the official stated:

Deficiencies were found in four of them; these deficiencies have already been addressed. The first full technical maintenance of the ventilation is planned to be completed by 20 October 2026.

Explaining the significance of these inspections for teaching, Hanna Lychko said:

In schools, kindergartens, and extracurricular institutions we have a total of 97 civil protection shelters that have all the necessary certificates, and we use them during the educational process. Organizing the educational process inside the shelters themselves remains a pressing issue for us, so ventilation is constantly under our supervision.

In addition to technical inspections, the Department of Education separately ordered laboratory air tests. The list of parameters to be checked includes:

• dust content, ammonia, phenol and formaldehyde;
• concentrations of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, as well as radon;
• air temperature and humidity;
• lighting level.

In response to an information request, the Department of Education stated:

The measurement results have not been provided to the Department of Education, as the work has not yet been completed.

As of 6 October, general secondary education institutions in Mykolaiv are operating in the following formats:

• 26 — in-person;
• 27 — in a hybrid format;
• 11 — remotely.

Earlier we wrote:

• Lessons with curtains and the “sauna effect”: Mykolaiv schoolchildren feel sick in the shelter
• Inspection of shelters in Mykolaiv: dampness and dirt, no ramps or fire extinguishers, signs without responsible persons
• “The most available spaces in shelters are in the Korabelnyi district,” — Department of Education on Mykolaiv kindergartens
• Another kindergarten is ready for safe stays during alerts — a shelter for 600 children has already been opened!
• Instead of repair and outfitting: after large-scale inspections, basements in Mykolaiv were simply removed from the shelter map