Feature: Children in frontline school in E. Ukraine risk their lives to get education

"Our village is predominantly safe, but battles are raging at the outskirts," Lesya Kosse, a principal of a frontline school in Granitne village in eastern Ukraine, told Xinhua.

She said, "on a recent day, there was a particularly heavy shelling -- shells were flying and bursting, but fortunately they have not hit the village."

The brave principal is keeping her school open even during the fiercest battles between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents to give a chance to 147 children living the conflict-affected area to get educated.

When the conflict erupted in April 2014, more than half of the school pupils fled from Granitne, which was surrounded by the forces and weapons of the two warring parties. Meanwhile, other children, mostly from poor families, had no other choice but to stay at home.

Along with regular lessons, the children of the school have special disciplines. They have to learn how to hide from shelling and avoid landmines.

The village is now under control of the Ukrainian government, but pupils from the insurgent-held area also study in Granitne. It is a principled position of the school leadership -- not to divide the children living on the rival sides of the frontline.

"Seven pupils in our school are from the other side. The youngest are a seven-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. We even have a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature, who crosses the frontline every day," Kosse said.

She said the pupils from the insurgent-controlled area are facing enormous hardships while getting to the school, but they ignore the obstacles on their way to education.

"The bridge over the river was blown up. Fortunately, there is a small footbridge, which allows the children to reach the school. In addition, the road lies near the large and dense forest. It is very dangerous, but there is no other option. Anyway, children are eager to come for the sake of knowledge," Kosse said.

Each day, the courageous pupils are walking several kilometres by foot as Granitne has no regular transport connection with other cities or villages due to the safety concerns.

However, the hard road to school is not the main problem. The continuing fighting in the area endangers the health and the lives of the children. Although the windows of the school are covered with anti-shock shields, which could protect from bullets, shelling from heavy weapons still poses huge risks.

On the eve of the new year and Christmas holidays, volunteers from all over Ukraine brought presents for pupils of the school -- sweets, fruits, toys and different clothes. The gifts evoked smiles on the faces of the children, but their eyes still look sad.

It seems the best gift adults can offer to these kids is peace, which would bring safety to the educational process and remove from the school schedule the lessons on how to survive the conflict. Endit