Polohy, a city in Zaporizhzhia region, knows from experience how career guidance should be conducted. Polohivska community is large and diverse, comprising not only an industrial centre but also eight starosta districts with villages. The region has therefore developed as both an industrial and agricultural area, with sunflowers symbolising it on the flag. Prior to the full-scale invasion and occupation, the following enterprises were operating successfully here: the Polohy O

In Zymnivska community in Volyn region, career guidance is no longer just a formality. Here, students are not merely told about different professions in class; they are given the opportunity to look inside a forensic pathologist’s briefcase, see how furniture is made, and sit in the cab of a modern combine harvester. Read on to learn how the community has evolved from occasional trips to establishing a system of career guidance and counselling for students, how the village ma

Imagine a nine-grade student who confidently claims that he dreams of a career in IT simply because he has heard about the high salaries in the sector. Now imagine that same boy just an hour later: he walks out of a modern veterinary clinic, where, under a vet’s supervision, he has performed his very first ultrasound scan on a dog, and says enthusiastically, ‘I’ve changed my mind – I’m going to be a vet!’ Or take his classmates, who usually get bored in lessons, but here are

These topics were discussed during the youth dialogue platform at the National Forum «The Future We Choose!», organised by the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Young people want more than just to hear about professions, they want to try them out for themselves For teenagers, effective careers guidance is, above all, an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in a profession: to see how professionals work, t

How to build coordinated efforts at national, regional, and local levels, and unite the efforts of authorities, the education sector, and the business community so that every child can not only explore the world of professions, but also see real opportunities for learning, professional development, and self-fulfilment in their community, region, and Ukraine in general? This topic was discussed during the regional dialogue platform «From Community to Region: Building an Ecosys

This handbook is available for preview. The materials presented are not the final version and will be clarified and amended based on the results of the expert review in accordance with the procedure for obtaining the relevant approval from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Download the handbook: JOBS: Job Orientation in Communities, Schools and Businesses. Handbook for Students in Grades 8–9 of General Secondary Schools. This handbook for students in Grades 8–

‘For teenagers and young people with special educational needs, careers guidance should not merely consist of recommendations about which profession to choose, but should be an understandable and clear system of support taking them from school through to further education, work experience, and employment.’ This was the focus of discussions during the «Barrier-Free Career Guidance: Equal Opportunities for Every Child», held at the National Forum «The Future We Choose!» in Kyiv

On 5–6 October, Lviv hosted the inaugural session «Development of Communities with a Focus on Education». The heads of the partner communities met with DECIDE Project team to discuss key issues of education development at the local level, identify the communities’ current needs with regard to supporting the development of the education system, outline the main areas of cooperation with DECIDE, and plan the first steps of their joint work. ‘It is important for us to work with

What is necessary to ensure that every school leaver can say exactly that? Understanding one’s own strengths is more important than simply knowing the names of professions. It is not just about hearing about the labour market; it is about getting to know real professions, organisations and the people who work there. Most importantly, it is about exploring the different educational and professional opportunities available in order to make a conscious choice. Discussions on how

The formula ensures that each institution will receive core funding to guarantee stable operations. The remainder of the funding will depend on the performance of the vocational colleges. When allocating this portion of the funding, the following factors will be taken into account: the number of students; the demand for vocational qualifications in the region; compliance with the enrolment plan; employment of graduates; the implementation of short-term programmes; the institu

The dialogue platform was organised by the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities (VAG) in partnership with the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project. The discussion brought together the VAG leadership, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, DECIDE Project, members of the VAG Board, as well as almost 200 member communities of the Association in an online format. Key speakers were: Andrii Butenko, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Valentyna

This summer, DECIDE ran a separate selection process to support initiatives for internally displaced children and Teenagers from Luhansk region, as the security situation has prevented their communities from organising summer clubs for them in the usual way. As previously reported, based on the results of the selection process, grant support was awarded to: NGO Prostir Foundation; Arms of Mercy Charitable Fund. They organised summer activities for children and teenagers from

DECIDE Summer Clubs «We are at home – in Ukraine» and their creative culmination: the DECIDE Film Festival 2026. This summer, the DECIDE Summer Clubs 2026 «We are at home – in Ukraine» ran in 23 communities across 8 regions of Ukraine. A total of 695 educators took part in the initiative, and the activities of the Summer Clubs reached more than 5,600 children, including 348 internally displaced children and 98 children with special educational needs. The main focus this summe

How do children and adolescents in Ukraine view their professional future, what influences their choices, and do they see opportunities for professional fulfilment in their community, region, and the country as a whole? To answer these questions, the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project, jointly with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), conducted a national survey on the educational and career expectations of children and teenagers as part of a national pilot proje

Representatives of the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine held a working meeting to discuss priorities for future cooperation and the next steps in implementing education reforms. Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Andrii Butenko, DECIDE Project Manager Valentyna Poltorak, and component coordinators Larysa Zhabenko and Yuliia Molchanova took part in the meeting. During the meeting, key areas for further cooperation we

The pilot project aims to create a comprehensive, sustainable, and accessible model for career guidance and support for students, implemented by the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, regional military administrations, local governments, educational institutions, and employers. During the first year of the pilot project at the community and regional levels: more than 61,000 students in Grades 8–9 took part in c

In September, the team of the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project visited the partner Hrebinkivska, Lokhvytska, Shcherbanivska, and Nekhvoroshchanska communities in Poltava region. Together with the community leaders, heads of education authorities, financial and humanitarian departments, and teaching staff of educational institutions, the experts discussed future plans for cooperation with DECIDE, as well as the current needs of the communities in terms of consultative and expert

This summer, DECIDE Summer Clubs 2026 «We are at home – in Ukraine» offered children more than just a chance to relax, make new friends, and spend time together. The main focus of the summer clubs was careers guidance – and discovering the world of professions was certainly not limited to simply hearing about what careers they might pursue in the future. But today, the focus is not on career guidance, but on active leisure activities at our clubs. The summer club programmes w

The community is located in an area of active hostilities; its residents have been fully evacuated and are now scattered across Ukraine and the world, whilst teaching continues remotely. It would seem that, in such conditions, the main task of education is simply to maintain the educational process in schools. However, Dobropilska community in Donetsk region proves that even during wartime and whilst evacuated, it is possible to successfully relaunch the career guidance syste

The Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project supports the implementation of a pilot project by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Government in the development and piloting of a new model for the management and funding of vocational education institutions. Three vocational education institutions in Zhytomyrska community finished the legal phase of their reorganisation and became municipal non-profit organisations. They are the first participants in the pilot project of the M