Education remains a key area of government policy in Ukraine. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during the conference “Education of the New Ukraine” held on 27 May in Kyiv. The event brought together representatives of the government, parliament, the President’s Office, educators, and experts. Among the participants were Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi and Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
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Shmyhal outlined three main guidelines for the development of the education system. The first is to prepare children for life in the modern world: not only the transfer of knowledge, but also the development of critical thinking, the ability to learn throughout life and navigate a complex information environment. The second is to increase the competitiveness of graduates in the labour market, where schools should help identify and develop talent, and vocational education and training institutions should train in-demand specialists.
The third priority is the safety and interests of children. According to the Prime Minister, over the past two years, the government has invested almost UAH 14 billion in the construction and repair of shelters in schools. Fifteen underground school spaces have already been created in the frontline regions, and more than 180 more are planned to be commissioned by the end of the year. Currently, 80% of schools have shelters of various types.
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The School Offline strategy is also being implemented to return children to full-time education. UAH 2.8 billion has been allocated for the purchase of school buses for communities.
The Government continues to implement the New Ukrainian School reform. Over two years, more than UAH 3.9 billion has been allocated, including almost UAH 500 million for high school equipment. The main principles of the NUS are the development of key competences, inclusiveness, cooperation of educational process participants and motivation for teachers.
Shmyhal also mentioned the digital educational ecosystem, in particular the Mriya platform, which is already used by thousands of schools.
The government pays special attention to vocational education. More than UAH 1 billion has been allocated to support vocational schools. A mechanism of dual education is being introduced – training at enterprises with the support of the state and communities. In addition, the integration of Ukrainian universities into the European educational space continues.
Among the latest innovations are state grants for contract students, which have already been used by about 13,000 people.
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