Academic Volunteering, or How to Overcome Learning Losses

Real change is impossible without young people. The experience of university students is much closer to that of school students and can serve as a powerful example for them, says Iryna Kopaigorodska, coordinator of the “StudMentor” program. “A mentor is someone who has recently gone through a similar experience—taking standardized tests like the NMT (or previously the EIT) and applying to universities.”

The full-scale invasion, frequent air raids, power outages, and before that — the COVID-19 pandemic with its extended periods of remote learning — have all posed serious challenges for Ukrainian students and teachers. For years, children have lacked stable and consistent schooling. As a result, a new concept has emerged in the Ukrainian education system: learning losses — the gap in knowledge and skills caused by prolonged interruptions in education.

To address this, Teach For Ukraine NGO, in partnership with UNICEF, developed a program that engages young people as mentors helping school students catch up on missed learning. The outlet Local History spoke with history mentors who shared their insights on how to make the past engaging and understandable for children, how the StudMentor program works, and what risks learning losses pose for Ukraine’s future.