United for the future: How communities in Poltava region are jointly developing specialised senior secondary education

Since the beginning of April this year, a team of experts – Yurii Orel, Alla Bondar, and Olena Hulenko – has held 10 consultation meetings in Poltava region: in Novoorzhytska, Romodanivska, Velykobahachanska, Hoholivska, Hrebinkivska, Lubenska, Myrhorodska, Shyshatska, Bilotserkivska, and Khorolska communities.

‘We have seen different communities. But there is one thing they all have in common – debates about specialised schools are becoming more practical. Meetings like these help to not only understand the logic behind the changes, but also to unite educators, local authorities, parents, and students around a common goal – creating a modern senior secondary school with real opportunities for children,’ notes Alla Bondar, DECIDE Project expert.

The consultations were held in the format of an open dialogue and involved nearly 450 participants. The focus was on the practical aspects of implementing the reform of specialised senior schools at the level of each community.

The key topics discussed included:

• the development of a capable network of lyceums and the adoption of well-considered management decisions;

• the development of study programmes and selection of students;

• the staffing capacity of educational institutions and teacher training;

• transportation of students, accessibility of education, and development of infrastructure;

• financial resources and opportunities for the development of the educational environment in educational institutions.

‘We have approached this process systematically – we made the necessary decisions well in advance and identified the school that will become an academic lyceum. Renovation work is currently underway there, and parallel to this, we are forming a teaching team, as a quality lyceum is impossible without skilled teachers. For us, the most important thing is to define the study programmes correctly so that they meet the children’s actual needs. Because nowadays, students want to make choices and know why they are making them. It is valuable that, during consultations, the experts help to structure this process and align the community’s capabilities with the students’ needs,’ notes Antonina Nikitchenko, Head of Administration at the Executive Committee of the Mirhorod City Council.

The participants also focused on inter-municipal cooperation, as demographic trends, the remoteness of localities and limited financial resources are pushing communities to seek alternative ways of achieving this goal. For this reason, one of the most effective mechanisms is cooperation between communities, which helps them join forces and meet the educational needs of students.

Important: specific decisions are in place:

• Romodanivska community initiated cooperation with Myrhorodska community and, on 8 April 2026, the settlement council adopted a resolution to this effect. In turn, the Myrhorod City Council has already prepared a draft resolution ‘On granting consent to organise cooperation with Romodanivska settlement community in education’, which will be considered at the next meeting of the Myrhorod City Council.

• At the end of April this year, Novooryzhytsia Settlement Council will consider, at its regular session, a draft resolution that will initiate cooperation with Lubenska community.

• Based on the results of the meetings held, Shyshatska and Hoholivska communities also plan to cooperate with one another.

This approach means that resources are not wasted on maintaining under-enrolled senior classes in schools, but are instead invested in developing strong lyceums with modern facilities, a professional teaching staff, and a wider range of study programmes, so that students have real choice and better learning opportunities.

Since March 2025, the expert team has conducted 41 online and in-person consultations for 37 communities in Poltava region (56% of the total number of communities in the region), with nearly 1,250 participants taking part.

If your community also needs a consultation, please fill in the short form via this link. Our team of experts will hold an online meeting or visit your community to conduct a public consultation.

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

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