A three-day training in Rivne brought together over 100 participants from across Ukraine — students, as well as coordinators and career advisors from Career Development Centers of vocational colleges.
Prior to the training, in February, representatives of the Career Centers’ teams participated in preparatory learning through three online webinars.
Career Development Center coordinators were trained in practical skills for supporting students in real labor market conditions: vacancy analysis, assessing readiness for self-employment, job preparation, and building resilience to rejection.
The training was delivered by experts with extensive experience in implementing educational projects and career counseling — Alona Fedko and Zlata Tiahunova. Participants received a structured methodology for student career guidance, covering the full journey from self-awareness and motivation to choosing a career path.
“The training was designed to strengthen students’ motivation and equip them with tools to build sustainable student self-governance. We believe this will strengthen their colleges and make them more attractive. At the same time, we trained representatives of Career Development Centers so they can create an environment where student self-governance can truly develop and become a strong pillar supporting the reform of vocational education,”
The process of establishing and launching Career Development Centers in vocational colleges is currently ongoing. Their key functions include: student career counseling and development, soft skills development, entrepreneurship support, labor market monitoring, event organization and promotion of professions, as well as alumni support.
We are building effective cooperation between colleges and employers. This is exactly why Career Development Centers are being created in colleges. The employment rate of graduates will become one of the key indicators of institutional effectiveness. Coordinators and advisors of these Centers are key agents of change within institutions, and such training should contribute to their development and future effectiveness,
A separate part of the training was a meeting between Dmytro Zavhorodnii and students and Career Development Center representatives, dedicated to innovations in vocational education and the importance of establishing student self-governance in vocational colleges.
During the training, students developed core skills in leadership, teamwork, effective communication, and project thinking — all essential for active participation in student self-governance and the implementation of socially impactful initiatives. These competencies are crucial for implementing the provisions of the new Law of Ukraine “On Vocational Education,” which, for the first time, grants students in vocational institutions the right to establish self-governance bodies and initiate change.
A motivational speech for students and teachers was delivered by Petro Korzhevskyi, Director of the Department of Education and Science of the Rivne Regional State Administration:
Vocational education institutions prepare economically active citizens, which is extremely important for the country, especially in current conditions. Our future belongs to students. This generation is confident, active, and driven — they want to create change, start their own businesses, and build careers. Therefore, we are creating comfortable learning conditions in vocational colleges and actively cooperating with businesses so that young people can build their best lives in Ukraine and contribute to rebuilding the country.
Students participated in parallel training sessions across two streams, sharpening their skills through interactive modules, group work, and workshops. An essential part of the training was daily reflection sessions guided by an experienced team of trainers: Kateryna Synelnyk (NGO “Zminotvortsi”), Mariia Didenko, Mariia Kryvosheienko, Oksana Liutik (NGO “Zminotvortsi”), Vladyslav Sasin, and Ester Kovalchuk (NGO “BUR”).
It was a discovery for me that even as a first-year student, we can already organize so many activities in our institution and actually make changes. I already have ideas for two projects I want to start implementing when I return. I dream that we will have more spaces for sports and active leisure. This training helped me rediscover my motivation,
Student self-governance is an opportunity to unite all students and unlock everyone’s potential, because often we don’t realize how talented we are or fully understand our strengths. We organize many concerts and events in our college. For me personally, self-governance is also about self-development and a space of opportunities. During the training, I realized that we shouldn’t be afraid or shy about our ideas — we need to work on them and take initiative,
The event was organized to support the reform of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
