Discussion of the reform of specialized secondary education in Ivano-Frankivsk

Ivano-Frankivsk hosted a public discussion of the reform and the specific features of its implementation. The event was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in partnership with the Swiss-Ukrainian Project DECIDE «Decentralization for Improved Democratic Education» and with the assistance of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration.

More than 150 participants joined the discussion, including representatives of the ministry, regional military administration, regional council, DECIDE Project, heads of territorial communities, heads of community education authorities, heads of institutions of secondary, vocational pre-higher, and vocational education.

A key aspect of the reform is to create a network of academic lyceums, mostly separated from primary and basic schools. Here, students of 10-12 grades will be able to choose a study profile, various courses and academic subjects, and the institutions will provide in-depth career guidance. Therefore, at this event a special attention was paid to the discussion of planning of a network of institutions that will provide specialized secondary education in Ivano-Frankivsk Region, as well as the model of funding and management of such a network.

Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project manager, deputy head of DOCCU NGO, said:

«DECIDE Project has been working with Ivano-Frankivsk Region for eight years. We know the territorial communities and educators well, and hundreds of schools in the region have participated in our projects. That is why it is a special honor for us to be a partner and support public discussions of the reform of specialized education in Ivano-Frankivsk.

For us as a Project, it is very important that the voice of communities is heard. One of our most important tasks is to create a dialog platform to take into account the position of communities in this reform. After all, you can write the best strategy, but if there are no like-minded people ready to implement it, it will remain just a document. I hope that this document will become a joint effort and that you will implement this reform together for the sake of the future of Ukrainian children»

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DECIDE project is implemented by DOCCU NGO and PHZH International Projects in Education with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine.