The forum “Building Vocational Education: Best Practices” brought together representatives of the government, local authorities, educational institutions, and businesses to discuss key aspects of transforming the vocational education system in Ukraine.
🎯Key topics addressed included:
Main provisions of the draft Law on Vocational Education;
Financial and academic autonomy of educational institutions;
Best practices for partnerships between education and business;
An organizational development model for educational institutions (based on the experience of Albania).
Dmytro Zavhorodnii, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, presented the main innovations of the draft Law on Vocational Education, which is scheduled for its second reading in the Verkhovna Rada in June. He particularly emphasized the planned introduction of financial and staffing autonomy for vocational institutions:
"Vocational institutions will be able to operate as non-profit organizations, independently manage their funds, approve staffing structures, and move away from rigid salary grids. Funding will shift from rigid budgets to a service-based model for training specialists, encouraging efficiency and competition."
Victor Shutkevych, Deputy Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine, highlighted that the official Swiss government has approved an assistance package for Ukraine totaling 1.5 billion Swiss francs for 2025–2028. Supporting vocational education remains one of the key priorities within this package:
"We are pleased to witness the positive changes in vocational education that have resulted from the productive collaboration between the Ministry of Education and Science and businesses. The closer education is to real production, the better the outcomes—for both learners and the national economy."
From the business side, Pavlo Mashyna, CEO of ITC IVIK LLC, shared the private sector’s readiness to actively cooperate with vocational education institutions through short-term courses, mentorship programs, and joint investments in skills development—provided transparent and effective interaction is maintained:
"We live in challenging times, but such times also open up new opportunities. I am sincerely grateful to the government for numerous initiatives in vocational education, especially to the EdUP project for training mentors and facilitating experience exchange with Switzerland."
Ivan Pykus, Head of Innovation, Distance Learning, and Coordination of Educational Institutions at the Lviv Regional State Administration, stressed the importance of business engagement in the supervisory boards of vocational institutions:
"Business is definitely interested in outcomes: skilled workers and improved education quality. This year alone, businesses in the Lviv region provided $7.5 million in co-funding to vocational institutions. This is a powerful motivator and a clear indicator of trust in the system."
Directors of vocational education institutions participating in the EdUP project also contributed to the discussion. Among them, Andrii Bezuglyi, Director of Vinnytsia Vocational Art College No. 5, emphasized the urgent need to move from conceptual discussions to practical implementation of reforms, while cautioning about challenges ahead:
"The concept is correct, but without sufficient financial resources, it will be difficult to fundamentally change the situation in vocational education. Teacher salaries remain a particularly painful issue."
Anatolii Doroshenko, Director of Pryluky Vocational Lyceum, spoke on the role of short-term courses as a key instrument for lifelong learning:
"Lifelong learning is not just a slogan; it is a necessity of our time. Short-term courses allow individuals to quickly acquire in-demand skills and adapt swiftly to labor market needs."
From the EdUP project team, Viktoriia Rudyk, Head of Organizational Development, presented a model for organizational development of vocational institutions based on Albania’s experience and discussed its potential adaptation and application in Ukraine.
The forum underscored the critical importance of close cooperation between the government, business sector, and educators in creating a modern vocational education system tailored to labor market needs—an effort that remains at the core of the EdUP project’s mission.
