On 14 May 2016 in Toronto, Canada, on the occasion of the Canadian National Teachers’ Conference – Ukrainian Schooling in Canada: Traditions and Innovations, the Chair of the Ukrainian Wrold Congress (UWC) International Educational Coordinating Council (IECC), Oksana A. Wynnyckyj-Yusypovych, met with the Chair of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) National Ukrainian Educational Council, Volodymyr Boychuk, and the Chair of the Ukrainian Canadian School Board, Toronto Branch, Tatiana Sunak.
The IECC Chair praised the organization, topics and discussions that took place during the conference dedicated to Ukrainian language education that brought together close to 200 teachers from five Canadian provinces and personally conveyed her profound appreciation to the Chair of the Ukrainian Canadian School Board, Toronto Branch, Tatiana Sunak. At the same time, she wished the Chair of the UCC National Ukrainian Educational Council, Volodymyr Boychuk, success in planning and implementing the next conference to take place two years hence in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The IECC Chair brought up the need expressed by many teachers in the Ukrainian diaspora of the necessity to engage their students in real-life communication opportunities. In light of such a demand, she suggested that Ukrainian language teachers and students in Canada become engaged in transnational communication using current technology to communicate with teachers and students who reside in the Ukrainian diaspora, particularly those who reside in states where English is not the dominant state language.
The UWC is grateful to the Conference Organizing Committee for inviting the Chair of the IECC to present the Keynote Address at the Canadian National Ukrainian Teachers’ Conference.
“In Canada, the Ukrainian language is taught according to curriculum guidelines established by provincial Ministries of Education. It would be very constructive for Canadians, who are successfully integrating the teaching of the Ukrainian language into the government funded public school systems of Canada to share these strategies with those who are engaged in Ukrainian language teaching around the world,” stated IECC Head Oksana A. Wynnyckyj-Yusypovych.