Lyubchyk: Ukrainian schools abroad are the frontline of national consciousness

by Lyuba Lyubchyk, Chair of the UWC’s International Educational Coordinating Council (IECC).

Source: Lyubchyk on Facebook

Dear educators of the global Ukrainian community,

A new school year begins, you once again step into your classrooms far from your native land, yet are full at home in your Ukrainian-language schools.  

To teach in a Ukrainian diaspora school is to be a fighter. 

A fighter for Ukrainian truth.

A fighter for Ukrainian identity.

A fighter for Ukraine. 

Your work preserves our students’ national consciousness and keeps Ukrainian schooling alive abroad, often against great odds. 

Today, UWC’s IECC is focused on strengthening diaspora schools and expanding the Ukrainian-language educational space across all continents. 

Thanks to our joint efforts and principled stance, we can now speak of significant changes in state education policy: recognition of results achieved in informal education abroad (such as 

Saturday and Sunday schools), recognition of teaching experience for educators working in these centres, opportunities for professional training and career growth, and the creation of a digital platform to support teachers abroad. 

All this raises the status of Ukrainian teachers and schools worldwide. It was not easy — we worked persistently in working groups, held numerous meetings, and sought the best mechanisms and solutions for the needs of Ukrainian diaspora schools. Today, we can see the first results, which are truly historic.

I sincerely thank Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science for recognising the importance of our initiatives and taking effective steps in the right direction. 

After all, who but the Ukrainian state should be most interested in ensuring that Ukrainian schools and the Ukrainian language grow worldwide? 

Our recent meeting with Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi confirmed full support for the development of Ukrainian diaspora schools.

The future of Ukraine is born in Ukrainian schools — no matter whether they are in Ukraine or abroad. Everywhere, there are our Ukrainian teachers, our Ukrainian students, and our Ukrainian schools. That is why comprehensive state support (every word here matters) is essential.

We continue working, we move forward together, and on Sept. 5 we will meet for educational dialogues with Deputy Minister of Education and Science Nadiia Kuzmychova to discuss the mechanism of voluntary registration and verification of diaspora educational centres in the AIKOM system to ensure recognition of their results.

I wish you all a successful start to the new school year, dear colleagues! Each of you is part of the unique phenomenon of Ukrainian diaspora schools. Thank you for your role in strengthening the state and for your dignified national position in preserving Ukrainian identity.

A school stands because of its teachers — but so does the state.