Representatives of communities from Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions completed training on implementing reforms of specialised senior schools
On 19 October, a workshop «Reform of specialised secondary schools: opportunities and challenges for the community» took place in Poltava – the final event in a series of specialised professional development programmes for over 60 participants from 53 communities in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, including community leaders, their specialist deputies, and heads of education departments.
The professional development programmes have been approved by the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (NAUCS), so participants will receive credit for this training as part of their professional development as local government officials.
Speakers at the event included:
Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager, Deputy Chair of NGO DOCCU;
Ivan Yuriichuk, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;
Anastasiia Sofiienko, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;
Pavlo Khobzei, DECIDE National Expert on the reform of specialised senior education;
Antonina Makarevych, Deputy Head for Specialised Secondary Education at the New Ukrainian School (NUS) Implementation Office, supported by the World Bank as part of the LEARN programme;
Serhii Yatskovskyi, DECIDE National Expert, Coordinator of Advisory Support to Local Governments in Implementation of Reforms in Specialised Secondary Education;
Pavlo Ostapenko, DECIDE National Expert on Local Self-Government;
Nadiia Balabust, DECIDE National Expert, Coordinator of Career Guidance System Development;
Kateryna Nemyrovska, Head of DECIDE Expert Group on Development of Career Guidance Hubs and Cooperation with Business;
Yana Brusentsova, DECIDE National Expert on Local Self-Government.
The event was held in the form of a dialogue. The participants could ask questions, discuss the practical aspects of implementing the reform in their communities, share their own experiences, and identify the next steps for developing the education network. These issues are particularly important for Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where, due to the complex security situation, teaching often has to be organised remotely or in bomb shelters.
The key topics of the seminar were:
the main changes envisaged by the reform of specialised secondary education, and the tasks that communities face in the process of its implementation;
the financial autonomy of general secondary education institutions;
the development of a career guidance system for children and adolescents as a key component of the reform of specialised senior secondary schools;
approaches to modelling a capable network of educational institutions, taking into account students' needs and the capabilities of communities;
cooperation between communities to ensure the functioning of academic lyceums;
the recruitment and training of teachers for academic lyceums.
In particular, the discussion covered:
the development of a network of educational institutions that will provide specialised secondary education. In Dnipropetrovsk region, 87.2% of communities already have approved plans for establishing this network, whereas 12.8% are in the process of drafting or adopting such plans. In Kharkiv region, 98.2% of communities have already adopted the relevant decisions, and another 1.8% are in the process of doing so;
the number of senior secondary students to operate a lyceum and the capacity of lyceums to provide other levels of full general secondary education. Thus, in Dnipropetrovsk region, the new network will comprise 159 academic lyceums, of which 16 will be stand-alone institutions, 68 will include a gymnasium, and 73 will include a primary school in addition to a gymnasium. In Kharkiv region, 197 academic lyceums are planned, including 11 stand-alone institutions, 16 lyceums with a gymnasium, and 165 lyceums with both a primary school and a gymnasium;
the administrative decisions required to transform the education network. The participants discussed approaches to modelling a capable network of educational institutions, financial autonomy, and opportunities for cooperation between communities to ensure the functioning of academic lyceums;
ensuring access to high-quality specialised secondary education for students in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, particularly those from small, remote, and frontline territories.
Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager, thanked community representatives from Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions for their resilience and systematic work on educational development, and outlined opportunities for cooperation during Phase II of DECIDE Project.
An important component of this work is providing advisory support to communities in implementing the reform of specialised senior secondary education. DECIDE experts have already provided such support to 56 communities: 36 in Kharkiv region and 20 in Dnipropetrovsk region.
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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