«This is our home». How does the destroyed 51st lyceum teach students and is it worth waiting for its reconstruction?

The destroyed building of Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

For the fourth academic year in a row, Mykolaiv Lyceum №51 has been unable to receive students in its walls. In July 2022, an enemy missile hit the building, destroying almost every classroom in the lyceum. Since then, students have been forced to study online, and only the primary school has been able to return to full-time education. However, the lyceum believes that their school will be rebuilt and students will return to studying at their desks.

NikVesti found out how the lyceum is doing today and what the future holds for the Mykolaiv institution.

«Only one wing remained intact». How does a lyceum teach students without a building?

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Before 1 September, many parents came to the school to receive school books for their children for the new school year.

This school year, primary school students will study offline, while the rest will study online, Yevhen Masiuta, director of Lyceum №51, told NikVesti.

«The school is working. The primary school will have 100% full-time education. We used to have a room for the first grades, now we use it as a primary school. Fifth graders also study there. For the sixth grades, we were given a classroom in a neighbouring lyceum, and 7-11 grades will study remotely,» said Yevhen Masiuta.

Principal of Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 51 Yevhen Masiuta, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

The director showed us the destroyed building of the school.» He says that almost every room has been destroyed: the library, assembly and gymnasium, dining room, main entrance, classrooms.

«Only the wing where the primary classes was spared. It was not destroyed, but it was heavily damaged», he added.

Despite this, the principal says, students continue their studies, participate in competitions and even maintain 200 points on the NMT (National Multimedia Test, — note). However, there is still a certain outflow of students: in 2022, their number was 1300, now it is 800.

Shelter in Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

Then Yevhen Masiuta continued to show the consequences of the Russian strike on the institution.

«I'm walking here (past the ruins of the school, — note) with you now... it's emotionally hard. I don't know how to characterise the people who made this decision. This is an educational institution, these are children.

This is our home. And when a home is destroyed, where first parents and now their children have spent most of their lives, it is always difficult», he said, looking at the destroyed educational institution.

Books under the rubble in Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

The director said that the reconstruction of the lyceum is planned to be divided into stages. First, we will build the first building and start the educational process there.

«We hope for the best. It can't be otherwise. The children are waiting for the school to be rebuilt as soon as possible. And the teachers say that if they did not believe in it, they would have quit a long time ago», added Yevhen Masiuta.

If educational institutions are obliged to switch to full-time education, 51 lyceum will need an additional building, the director explained.

«If we have such a building, even a small one, we will be able to work in two shifts. "Yes, it's hard, but we've been working in two shifts all our lives. There used to be 48 classes here», the director added.

Children's drawings at Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

What does the sketch of the new lyceum construction look like?

Initially, the local authorities considered two options for the lyceum's future: to reconstruct the institution or to demolish it and build a new one on the site.

For this purpose, the Education Department of the City Council ordered a technical report on the condition of the lyceum. The results of the report are as follows: part of the institution is not subject to further operation, and part is in an emergency state. It also stated that some structures were in satisfactory condition, but that their defects and damage could reduce their service life.

The final decision on the future of the Lyceum №51 was announced in May 2023: the institution will be demolished and a new one will be built in its place.

This decision is primarily due to the fact that it is much cheaper to build a new school than to restore a damaged one, Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov explained earlier.

«Even before the war, the school was of the third category of emergency, and there are only four of them. Plus, there was an air raid, and the facility was destroyed. After a technical report, it was decided to build a new school», said the vice mayor.

Screenshot of the draft design of the future lyceum building

Screenshot of the preliminary design of the future lyceum building

Screenshot of the conceptual design of the future lyceum building

Screenshot of the conceptual design of the future lyceum building

Screenshot of the conceptual design of the future lyceum building

Back in 2023, the city authorities developed a sketch for the reconstruction of Lyceum №51. In total, it is planned to build three main buildings: for primary, middle, and high school, Oleksii Savchuk, director of the Capital Construction Department of the City Council, told NikVesti earlier: «These are four-storey, two-storey and one-storey buildings, which will be formed by age groups».

It is expected that the total area of the new lyceum will be approximately 18,000 square metres and will be able to accommodate 1,500 students. A bomb shelter is planned to be built under each building. The basements will be used for a library, a shooting range and a cloakroom.

In addition to the three main buildings, the new lyceum will also include an administrative building, a sports complex, recreational areas, a stadium, and two sports grounds.

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«It is not the time to do such projects». Reconstruction of the lyceum will cost more than 1 billion hryvnias

However, the sketch is only an indicative picture of what the new lyceum could look like. The actual calculations will be presented in the project for the new construction of the institution, which is now being prepared by the customer — the Capital Construction Department of the City Council. It was supposed to be developed a year ago, but the contractor failed to complete the project on time. In general, it is being developed in two stages, explained Oleksii Savchuk, director of the department:

• general calculations and location of buildings;
• a detailed description of the project, works, and budget.

The destroyed building of Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

6.3 million hryvnias was spent from the city budget to develop the project, and the work is currently at the final stage. But it is already known that the construction of the new lyceum will cost more than 1 billion hryvnias. However, international partners will not provide these funds until the end of the full-scale war, said Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych.

«The cost of this school, I think it will be very expensive, probably more than a billion hryvnias using modern technologies and actually from scratch. We are planning to turn to our partners. So far, our partners are considering participating in this, but after a full-scale invasion, because they do not see the possibility of investing large amounts of money in one facility. You know, if you invest a large amount of money in one facility, then one missile arrival destroys all these financial investments», said Alexander Sienkevych.

Books under the rubble in Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

MP Ihor Kopytin, whose constituency includes Lyceum №51, spoke out against the idea of building a new educational institution for 1 billion hryvnias in a commentary to NikVesti. Instead, he says, it is worth considering the option of rebuilding the destroyed building of the school.

«From the very beginning, I said that it is better to rebuild what is there. It's not the time to do such projects. As far as I remember, the construction cost is about a billion hryvnias. I believe that it would be possible to rebuild what we have for about 30 million hryvnias, so that children could study and we would have an institution. And then, in the future, we could have built», says Ihor Kopytin.

Once the project is developed, the construction of the lyceum should be handled by the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in Mykolaiv region. But the state budget does not have the funds to build a new institution, says MP Ihor Kopytin.

«The state does not have such funds. And I understand that foreign sponsors will not allocate funds for this now either, unfortunately,» he added.

Books for the new school year at Mykolaiv Lyceum №51, August 2025, photo: NikVesti

1 billion hryvnias is a fairly large sum to build a new educational institution during the war. To get it, the city had to spend more than 6 million hryvnias.

Now we hear that the state does not have such funds, and international partners are unlikely to want to invest their own money in such a project. And this is not because they are unwilling to do so — as long as the war is on, there is a risk of getting a destroyed facility again.

Therefore, it is difficult to say how realistic it will be to bring this picture to life. Perhaps, after the presentation of the new construction project for Lyceum №51, we will be able to hear clearer plans for the future of the institution.

Yuliia Boichenko, NikVesti