DECIDE and communities of Poltava region set priorities for cooperation in the new academic year
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 support for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The key topics included the implementation of the reform of specialised senior secondary schools; the preparation of community development strategies, education development strategies and school strategies based on the “School of Active Democracy” methodology; the development of inter-municipal cooperation; the implementation of the “Community Budget for Children’s Dreams!” initiative; as well as training for local government officials, the establishment of boards of trustees for educational institutions, the implementation of grant initiatives, and others.
Work meetings were attended by:
Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager;
Yuliia Molchanova, DECIDE Coordinator of Component 2;
Nadiia Balabust, DECIDE National Expert;
Maryna Yeshchenko, DECIDE Coordinator in Poltava region;
the heads of Hrebinkivska, Lokhvytska, Shcherbanivska, and Nekhvoroshchanska communities, their deputies, representatives of the structural divisions of the communities, and heads and teachers of educational institutions.
The DECIDE team also visited the Hrebinkivskyi Academic Lyceum, Lokhvytskyi Lyceum No. 1, Shcherbanivskyi Lyceum, Rozsoshenska Gymnasium, and Nekhvoroshchanskyi Lyceum. Together with school directors, teaching staff, and students, they discussed how educational reforms work in practice, exchanged best practices in career guidance for children and teenagers, and learnt about the schools’ experiences of cooperating with parents and the public in implementing the third stage of the New Ukrainian School (NUS) – the reform of specialised senior secondary schools.
A separate area of cooperation between the Project and communities is the development of a systematic career guidance system within the framework of the national pilot project on career guidance for children and teenagers, which is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. At the Shcherbanivskyi and Nekhvoroshchanskyi Lyceums, the materials for the optional course JOBS have already been introduced for students in Grades 8-9, helping them to better understand their own interests, explore the world of professions, and plan their future education more consciously.
The partner communities also joined the DECIDE Summer Clubs 2026 initiative “We are at home – in Ukraine” in June-August. Summer leisure activities were organised for children and teenagers, integrating educational activities, career guidance, and the opportunity to have fun in their own community.
Based on the results of the visits, the DECIDE team, together with the communities, identified the current consultative needs of education managers and representatives of educational institutions for the 2026-2027 academic year.
We are grateful to the partner communities in Poltava region for our joint work on developing high-quality, democratic education and creating opportunities for the children and young people in the communities.
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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