On August 26, leading experts, educators, government leaders, international partners, civil society, and youth gathered in Kyiv to discuss future reforms, challenges and opportunities for education in Ukraine, and what the new school year will look like in the war.

The Annual Educator Conference, August-2024, was held with the assistance of the EGAP Program, which is implemented by East Europe Foundation and funded by Switzerland.

Key speakers and panelists discussed how to jointly implement school transformation and make education in Ukraine stronger and better in the face of all challenges. Despite a long delay due to an air raid that lasted several hours, more than 300 participants in the hall and thousands of viewers online followed the keynote speeches and panel discussions.

August-2024 was opened with a speech by Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development – Minister of Digital Transformation. He presented the key areas of education development in Ukraine, focusing on technology, innovation, and digitalization.

“The world is becoming increasingly innovative and technology-driven, and we need to respond quickly to new challenges,” said Mykhailo Fedorov. “To do this, we need to transform the education system. Together with the Ministry of Education and Science, we are working on profound changes at every level. We are revitalizing the New Ukrainian School reform to introduce technologies and cut excess bureaucracy, modernize universities, introduce grants for education, and rethink the way supervisory boards at schools are run. A special focus is on implementing Mriia, an app that will become a game-changer for the entire education system. Our goal is to build a country’s school system capable of creating professional and happy people for the new innovative economy.”

Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science talked about modernization of education as one of Ukraine’s priorities. Mr. Lisoviy addressed the urgent challenges to be resolved and overall transformation in preschool, secondary school, vocational, and higher education.

“We have a huge amount of work to do at the national and regional levels, at the level of communities and school administrations,” said Oksen Lisoviy. “But amid all the worries, before the new academic year begins, we must remember that we will build the country we want only if we preserve and develop our human capital. We are losing it due to depopulation and migration, we are losing people at the front, and our nation is aging. Therefore, the educational environment should form knowledgeable, highly motivated, and patriotic young people who will compensate for these losses with their performance and be able to fulfill their potential. It is our task to create such an educational environment.” 

Victor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation, spoke on restoring access to education. He said that the Foundation was one of the first to work on creating safe conditions for offline learning for children and to equip shelters. Under the Safe School Program, in cooperation with the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Education, 39 shelters were equipped, including classrooms in the Kharkiv Metro School, shelters in educational institutions in Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Khmelnytskyш. This means that more than 26,000 children, teachers, and support staff will continue the educational process in safety. Another 55 shelters will be set up by February 2025 across educational institutions in Chernihiv region as part of the Together for Support program.

East Europe Foundation’s President outlined what the Foundation is doing to support the psychological and emotional state of teachers and students during the educational process in wartime. A number of important training programs have been developed by the Foundation: the courses “Psychological safety of adults and children during air raid alerts at school” and “How to support a child during the war?” by psychologist Svitlana Royz posted on the Zrozumilo! Online Education platform; online courses on mine and civilian safety; an online course on radiation, chemical, biological, and nuclear hazards. This serves as a good support for people and something that can save lives, which is especially important now, as Ukraine’s struggle continues.

Victor Liakh said that people – communities with hundreds and thousands of Ukrainian families – should be at the heart of the education reform. It is their needs, priorities, and challenges that should be the starting point for the country to develop its crucial policies and implementation processes.

“Restoring the educational process is impossible without restoring communities. Destroyed housing, schools, and hospitals, and damaged roads prevent residents from living a full life,” said Victor Liakh. “The longer these facilities are not restored, the more people leave and the less likely they are to return. The reconstruction process should be as inclusive as possible, considering the interests and needs of everyone: children, parents, educators, businesses, communities, and the state as a whole. The key to success is partnership and dialog. Therefore, I urge educators to be proactive, to build cooperation with international organizations, charitable foundations, and the public sector. Only the synergy of efforts can produce a good result.” 

The conference participants discussed the challenges of preschool education and access to it in wartime. Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, said:

“Education is crucial for the well-being and development of children. It cannot be put on hold without risking the future of an entire generation and the country’s recovery. UNICEF commends and supports the government’s efforts to restore access to full-time education, provided where possible and while ensuring the safety of children. This is critical for children’s academic success. In addition, it creates a sense of normalcy through stable schedules and emotional support. And the resilience we build now will be our strength in the future. It’s not just about opening schools, but also about equipping them properly to promote the all-round development of every child.”

An important prerequisite in Ukraine’s education development is its reliance on international friends and partners in such a difficult time. Ukraine’s accomplishments in the field of education would not have been possible without the contribution of partners from abroad – foundations, organizations, philanthropists, and volunteers. The reform of secondary and vocational schools, recovery, and reconstruction are the results of our joint efforts, for which we are extremely grateful.

“Despite all the challenges of war, we realize that we may not have another, more favorable time to implement reforms,” said Valentyna Poltorak. DECIDE Project Manager. “The students who are currently in the 7th grade will go to the 10th grade of the New Ukrainian School in 2027, regardless of any circumstances, and will choose between academic lyceums and vocational colleges. It is important that they go to a modern school where they will be interested in learning and developing. If we create all the necessary conditions for the development of specialized secondary education in a timely and high-quality manner, it will make it possible to lay the foundations for the restoration of our country and allow young people to build their future in Ukraine.”

The Annual Educator Conference is about the importance of dialogue between teaching community, government, business and the public to ensure successful education reform ector in Ukraine. Together, we can ensure quality education for every child in Ukraine in the new school year and beyond.

The Conference was held with the support of the German government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine, the Swiss-Ukrainian project DECIDE – “Decentralization for Democratic Education Development”, which is implemented in Ukraine by a consortium of NGO DOCCU and the Zurich University of Education with the support of Switzerland, as well as the EGAP Program, funded by Switzerland and administered by East Europe Foundation.