“The war in Ukraine has disrupted the lives and education of millions of Ukrainian children for extended periods, and we wanted to offer support in some small way,” said Alan Safran, Saga Education’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Our goal was to provide students in Ukraine with support to stay engaged in their education, even during the tough times they are facing.”
The opportunity to serve students in Ukraine is personal to Alan, whose great-grandfather survived a Russian attack on his synagogue in Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century. He later escaped and emigrated to the United States.
In August, Saga completed a successful pilot project with Teach for Ukraine to provide live-online math tutoring to more than two dozen Ukrainian students. The two organizations are now exploring ways to continue the partnership and support more students in Ukraine with tutoring, including methods to scale live-online tutoring nationwide and broadening the pool of available tutors to support Ukrainian students. Both organizations are interested in raising awareness about education needs in Ukraine and working with U.S. policymakers to strengthen international tutoring efforts.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, education in the country has been disrupted by bombings and missile strikes, displacing families and destroying schools. Air raid sirens and bombardments are regular interruptions to learning, taking an emotional toll on students. For students’ safety, education frequently takes place underground in bunkers and bomb shelters. According to UNESCO, the education of 5.7 million school-age children has been put at risk because of the war in Ukraine.
Founded in 2016, Teach for Ukraine is part of the Teach for All network and works to ensure that every child in Ukraine can realize their potential, regardless of their place of birth or residence. Teach for Ukraine became involved in the country’s first large-scale randomized controlled trial examining the potential of high-impact tutoring (also known as high-dosage tutoring) in a study sponsored by The World Bank in 2023. Results of that study involving 4,000 Ukrainian students are forthcoming.
The partnership between Saga and Teach for Ukraine was established earlier this year following discussions between their leadership teams. This pilot project represents Teach for Ukraine’s first international tutoring partnership.
“For us, tutoring is a methodology that not only supports children in their academic knowledge but also develops their social-emotional skills, ability to learn, and self-assessment,” Teach for Ukraine Tutoring Project Lead Anatasia Donska said. “It was really valuable to know [Saga’s] experience and to see what we can use in Ukraine.”
Donska was surprised at the response when they invited students to join Saga tutors for live-online tutoring. “Our first concern was that tutoring was in English,” she said. “What [Ukrainian-speaking] teens would want to study math in English when it’s not even their second language,” she recalled. However, within 24 hours of inviting students to participate, they had 100 students apply to the pilot program.
The tutoring program has helped students to strengthen their math and English-speaking skills, boost their confidence in math, and forge new connections both within Ukraine and internationally, all while navigating the challenges of beginning a new school year during an ongoing war.
Mykhailo, a 15-year-old student who lives in Kyiv, was excited to participate in tutoring at the end of the summer. At first, he was nervous that his fellow students would be more advanced, but he was relieved to find that they were on similar skill levels. “I met a lot of great students,” he said. Tutoring helped Mykhailo prepare for school, which started on the first of September. In school, he received his first math pop quiz. Tutoring helped him feel more confident and prepared. A post-program survey revealed that students agreed (67%) or strongly agreed (33%) that their tutor cared about them. The students also reported a statistically significant increase in their math knowledge after an average of eight hours of tutoring over the summer.
Maksym Dometiev, who is in his third year as a Saga tutor and works as a live-online tutor with students in Chicago Public Schools, joined the team of tutors who offered to work with Ukrainian students over the summer. Dometiev, who was born in Ukraine, moved to the U.S. with his family when he was five years old. He graduated in 2022 with an electrical/electronic engineering degree from California State University, Chico.
Dometiev said that tutoring Ukrainian students was rewarding to see them “solving mathematical challenges they previously had not been able to. That feels great, especially for these Ukrainian students, because it shows that despite their tough situation, they’re still in it – they’re motivated.”
Ernest Valdes, a former Saga tutor, said he admired the Ukrainian students. Valdes, a retired U.S. Navy captain and engineer, didn’t bring up the war, and students didn’t discuss it. “The war is traumatic enough,” he said. “Their lives are upside down.”
Valdes said the Ukrainian students he tutored appreciated that he connected math concepts to practical applications, such as discussing supply and demand and connecting concepts like sine and cosine to the basics of electricity.
“It’s a sign of courage and commitment to education to sit down and do math in the middle of a war,” he said.
Starting an online program like this during a war presents technical challenges. Due to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure, power outages and unstable internet connections are common issues.
Myeesha Saquib, a Saga tutor from 2022-23 and now a graduate student in education at Vanderbilt University, said students occasionally experienced technical difficulties that interrupted tutoring. However, students helped each other communicate to notify Saquib if they lost their internet connection. When students were unable to attend, tutors emailed them the math curriculum, allowing them to continue practicing their math skills independently.
Viktoria, a 15-year-old from the Sumy region of Ukraine, said tutoring has helped her overcome some challenges she faced in solving systems of equations. “I can cope with the challenges more smoothly. I can be more patient,” she said. “Frequent alarms and blackouts prevent us from spending more time on studies.” Due to hostilities in the region, Viktoria attends classes and studies online.
Through tutoring, she appreciated the opportunity to meet other students from around the country and discuss education in Ukraine and the U.S. Studying has been a kind of meditation for her, “It distracts you from stress and negative news.”
Nazarii, a 16-year-old from Zaporizhzhia, said that participating in tutoring was a valuable experience for him. He views his math skills as a weakness, and missing school due to the war has caused him to fall behind in his studies. After the war began, school was delayed for six months, and since then, he has been learning through a mix of in-person and online formats.
“When you skip something [like math], it becomes more complex,” he said. “I’m working at it. I’m not bad at math, but I’m not as good as I want, and I believe I can change this.”
While he finds math challenging, Nazarii has a passion for learning languages, and the tutoring program helped him improve both his math and English skills. Participating in small-group online tutoring connected him with students across the country, allowing them to share experiences and ideas. Nazarii said that in the future, he’s interested in careers in politics, diplomacy, or the media.
The war has helped him become more aware of society and his education’s role in it. “When I improve myself, I understand that maybe in some way I’m contributing to society in my country.”
Mykhailo said that the war had made him realize the importance of education. He is considering studying engineering or medicine after graduating from high school. “The time that we’re living in now, especially in my country, because everyone knows that when the war will finish, someone will need to rebuild our country,” he said. “I want to help my country in the future to be a great country, to be a strong country. So we need to work. We need to study for a great future.”
Despite power outages, air raid sirens, and the uncertainty of daily life, these students remain committed to their education — not just to solve equations but to build their country’s future. Their resilience and determination serve as a powerful reminder that even in the darkest times, education remains a force for change. Looking ahead, Saga and Teach for Ukraine are committed to expanding this initiative and empowering more students with the tools and skills to succeed, even in the most challenging circumstances.
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As Saga Education’s Editorial Director, David Dadurka examines the educational landscape to generate insights elevating the field of high-impact tutoring. David joined Saga after 20+ years in journalism, marketing, and higher education roles. |
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