At the KCU Business Day, the EdUP project team presented the Workplace Mentorship Training Program: how to retain and develop staff.
During the panel, EdUP experts emphasized that developing a mentorship system is a key avenue for improving training quality and strengthening partnerships between education and business.
Yana Kochuhura, Head of the “Private Sector Engagement” stream of the EdUP project, stressed that today the demand for mentorship comes directly from business:
“Workplace mentorship is essential, and the time has come to implement it systematically. Businesses themselves are initiating this process because they feel an increasing need to retain qualified personnel, especially young people. Mentorship is an effective tool for onboarding, professional development, and talent retention. Business has become a key partner in developing the Mentorship Development Program together with the EdUP project so that it fully meets the real needs of enterprises.”
Yuliia Yepifanova, Project Manager of Public-Private Partnership to Improve Vocational Education in Ukraine (EdUP), spoke about project initiatives that create opportunities for businesses to engage in the development of vocational education.
In particular, she noted that the second phase of the project’s infrastructure component is now underway. With support from the Government of Switzerland, additional safe learning spaces are being created for vocational education institutions across 11 regions. She also announced the launch of short-term training courses for adults in five regions of Ukraine in the most in-demand construction trades.
Iryna Shumik, Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Education of Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science (MES), emphasized that legislative updates are creating favorable conditions for the development of mentorship:
“It is important to have dedicated programs for training mentors who can effectively teach future specialists. We already have initial successes in enshrining norms in legislation: in particular, practical training has been legally defined as a key component of vocational education—this creates a foundation for development, including mentorship.”
Maryna Rudnytskykh, Senior Legal Expert with the Reform Support Team (RST) at the MES of Ukraine, presented the new provisions of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Vocational Education’, which open up new opportunities for business:
“The law provides for the creation of supervisory boards in vocational institutions. At least half of their members will be employer representatives. This gives business a real tool to influence educational processes. The procedure for licensing has also been simplified and the attestation of VET institutions has been abolished—allowing institutions to respond more quickly to labor market needs.”
The panel discussion at KCU Business Day demonstrated that workplace mentorship is becoming an important component of modern vocational education in Ukraine. The joint efforts of the state, business, and educational institutions are aimed at making this process systemic, sustainable, and aligned with real labor-market needs.
The Workplace Mentorship Training Program, lecture notes, and presentations can be downloaded here: https://www.edup.org.ua/teoriia-metodychni-materialy/ (see the Mentorship section).
The EdUP project invites partners to mentor-training programs at enterprises. If you are interested in implementing a systemic mentorship approach, training internal mentors, and adapting the program to your production processes, please contact:
Yana Kochuhura
Head of Private Sector Engagemen, EdUP yana.kochugura@swisscontact.org
