The School Preparedness Toolkit: Building Systemic Resilience in Ukrainian Schools Through a Self-Assessment Digital Platform

Abstract

During the COVID-19 outbreak, schools around the world faced major challenges and were required to adapt to new educational practices while supporting students’ learning and well-being. This study outlines the development of School Preparedness Toolkit (SPT), an online interactive checklist launched from January to March 2021 among 273 Ukrainian schools. SPT was a dual-use tool, aiming to inform and support efforts of school administrations in implementing effective strategies to address challenges arising from COVID-19 and to inform related public health and educational policies at regional and national levels. The toolkit focused on resilience against COVID-19 challenges across five main domains: Access to Education Provision of Quality and Inclusive Learning, Well-Being, Safety, Nutrition, and School Feeding. Completion of SPT was a collaborative process among school administrators. Chi-square tests were conducted to examine differences across schools’ geographical locations and between urban and rural areas. Results indicated that most schools were already adapting to the challenges, to the extent of implementing mandated safety and online education protocols, communicating these with families, and providing a psychosocial safety net for children in extreme distress. However, resilience could be further strengthened through a greater emphasis on school cohesion, connectedness, and solidarity, as well as on preventive psychosocial interventions. The SPT methodology was shown to be a promising approach in assisting schools to reflect and plan for greater resilience, not just in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic but also in other extreme adversities that school systems—in Ukraine and around the world—might be facing.