A partnership initiative called, Educational Marathon between the UWC’s International Educational Coordinating Council (IECC) and Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science (MON) engaged nearly 1,000 educators from 61 countries and 357 Ukrainian educational institutions of various types across the world in April.
The initiative consisted of a series of webinars for Ukrainian educational communities abroad, organized by the IECC and the above-mentioned ministry.
The results were presented at a final meeting of the Ukrainian diaspora school network with Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Nadiia Kuzmychova.
Both partners also unveiled a project roadmap for the near future, said IECC Chair Lyuba Lyubchyk.
Representatives of Ukraine’s Education Ministry answered more than 700 education-related inquiries from Ukrainian diaspora schools.
“This truly was a marathon — a dynamic run across time zones, opportunities and corners of the world where Ukrainian schools operate… We managed to create a platform for interaction and to establish a sustainable dialogue between the Ministry and Ukrainian education representatives from every region and continent,” Lyubchyk said.
She thanked MON officials who often made time outside of regular working hours due to time zone differences to meet with diaspora educators, as well as Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine
Oksen Lisovyi and Deputy Minister Nadiia Kuzmychova thanked them for their “clear, structured approach to addressing the needs of Ukrainian schools abroad and for pursuing a strong state policy to support their development.”
Lyubchyk also expressed gratitude to project partners — Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations at the Lviv Polytechnic National University.
“We did it. This is a historic moment — for the first time in over 130 years of Ukrainian education abroad, the needs of diaspora schools have been heard by the state, and mechanisms for addressing them have been found. It’s far more rewarding to expand opportunities than to reduce needs. And this is the path we continue to follow,” Lyubchyk said.
