Kyiv region: community heads discussed the implementation of the reform of the senior specialized school

On May 7, a workshop titled "Reform of the Senior Specialized School: Opportunities and Challenges for the Community" was held in Kyiv, which was the final part of the training program. The event was attended by heads and deputy heads of specialized schools from 41 communities in the Kyiv region.

The advanced training program is approved by the National Education Service and is calculated for 0.6 ECTS credits (19 hours)

The participants discussed the issue of implementing the reform of specialized secondary education, in particular with an emphasis on taking into account the specifics of the region and communities of the Kyiv region, with:

• Nadiya Kuzmychova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;

• Mykola Kalashnik, head of the regional military administration;

• Valentina Poltorak, DECIDE project manager;

• national experts of the DECIDE project: Andriy Matsokin, Pavlo Ostapenko and Serhiy Yatskovskiy;

• Anna Morenko, coordinator of the educational environment department of the NUS Implementation Office.

The meeting was held in the format of an open dialogue: community heads actively asked questions to the Deputy Minister of Education and Science and experts from the DECIDE project, discussed practical aspects of implementing the reform in their communities, and outlined the challenges that arise in the process of transforming high schools.

Among the main issues:

• key changes envisaged by the reform of the senior specialized school and their impact on the organization of the educational process in communities;

• requirements for educational spaces of a senior specialized school: approaches to zoning, functionality and financing possibilities;

• financial instruments and subventions for the creation of a modern material and technical base for academic lyceums;

• cooperation of territorial communities in the process of forming a network of educational institutions.

Key issues that are priorities for communities today:

• requirements for the minimum allowable number of students in an academic lyceum;

• ensuring accessibility of lyceums taking into account the condition of roads;

• possibilities of attracting external resources for the development of the lyceum;

• features of concluding community cooperation agreements;

• legislative provision of opportunities for students currently in grades 9 and 10 to complete their studies at their schools;

• the issue of a moratorium on the use of property complexes of liquidated educational institutions;

• founders' amendments to the charters of educational institutions to implement financial autonomy.

In addition, DECIDE Project Manager Valentyna Poltorak presented the possibilities of further cooperation within the framework of the II phase of the Project. Recently, DECIDE Project and Kyiv Regional State Administration signed a memorandum of cooperation until 2030. This concerns the systematic implementation of educational reforms, strategic planning of education development, as well as building a connection between education, economy and labor market of the region through the creation of an effective career guidance system.

As part of the seminar-workshop, the participants also visited Lyceum 1 in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, where they were introduced to practical examples of organizing the educational process.

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

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