The EdUP project hosted a two-day forum in Ivano-Frankivsk, “Vocational Education: New Rules, New Opportunities,” bringing together 74 participants – regional education department leaders, experts, and directors and students of vocational colleges.
During the panel discussion “Vocational Education 2.0: Autonomy, Partnership, Quality,” Iryna Shumik, Director General of the Directorate for Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MoES), and Maryna Rudnytskykh, Senior Legal Expert and Head of the Reform Support Team at MoES, outlined the strategic changes, challenges, and opportunities facing the sector today.
For the third month now, vocational education in Ukraine has been operating under new rules. Therefore, this forum became a response to the request of the educational community and partners and a platform for dialogue. Together, we discussed not only the issue of establishing supervisory boards but also a new vision for the content of vocational education, financing issues, and the management of vocational institutions.
The main focus now is the implementation of the new Law “On Vocational Education,” because along with new opportunities come new challenges. An example of this is the introduction of supervisory boards. As a result of the interaction of all forum participants, we reached a shared vision and understanding of how to make supervisory boards truly effective governance bodies in vocational education institutions.
As part of the forum “Vocational Education: New Rules, New Opportunities,” the “Proftech Sport” tournament was held. Teams from institutions—partners of the EdUP project—from Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv competed. They played volleyball and football. The teams performed in new uniforms designed to enhance the visibility, prestige, and modern image of vocational schools across the country.
Over three years, EdUP has accumulated significant experience in the field of vocational education, so this forum became an opportunity to share these developments with educators. We also focused on the attractiveness of vocational schools—the second day was fully dedicated to this. In the format of sports competitions, teams from all regions demonstrated not only the importance of sports for young people but also a new identity, a new vision, and a new vocational education system.
As part of the Forum, a tour for participants—including heads of regional education departments, experts, directors, and students of vocational colleges—was held at the Ivano-Frankivsk Vocational Construction Lyceum. The tour was conducted by its director, Olha Huzar.
The Forum confirmed the importance of a shared vision for the transformation of vocational education on the part of government, local authorities, business, and vocational institutions, and became a platform for spreading successful practices of systemic change.
