EU Programme "EU4Skills" Supports Ukraine in Reforming System of Vocational Education and Training
The EU will support the reform of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Ukraine under the programme EU4Skills. The programme will assist, among other things, the modernisation of the infrastructure and equipment of selected VET schools and the development of new content for educational programmes. These changes will help graduates and teachers to meet the requirements of the labour market. The four-year programme will result in an effective and transparent management system for VET schools, development of new standards and high-quality educational programmes and qualifications. This was announced by EU representatives and Minister of Education and Science Anna Novosad on December 5, 2019, during the presentation of the program "EU4Skills: Better skills for modern Ukraine”.
“As experience in the EU has shown vocational education and training is an opportunity for young people to fully realise their potential. This is also important for the development of Ukraine. Skilled labour is a pre-condition for economic growth and innovation,” stated Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation of EU Delegation to Ukraine.
EU4Skills will support the implementation of the reform at the national level and in the following focus regions: Chernivtsi, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Rivne, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhia. Later, the experience of the focus regions will be replicated to the whole country. As of January 1, 2019, there are 754 vocational education institutions with 253,000 trainees in Ukraine.
“In October we presented the list of selected focus regions that will benefit from the support of EU4Skills in the establishment of Centers of Excellence. EU4Skills will also assist us in developing 100 VET standards and training masters and teachers in selected schools. It is important for us to use the experience of the EU countries, in which training is in high demand by young people,” said Anna Novosad.
The VET reform, among other things, focuses on the establishment of Centers of Excellence with modern equipment and technologies for learning. These centers will become flagships of the reform and hubs for best practices, which can be replicated to other schools throughout the country. EU4Skills will support the establishment of the centers and will also work on the engagement of employers in the planning and delivery of training. Furthermore, the training of teachers and school managers of VET schools are crucial components of EU4Skills. These changes will help schools to better meet the demand of the labour market.
Background information:
EU4Skills is a programme to support the reform of vocational education and training in Ukraine. The programme is supported by the EU and its member states Germany, Finland, Poland and Estonia. The total funding for the programme is EUR 58 million. EU4Skills is aimed at modernising vocational education and training institutions, purchasing equipment, establishing Centers of Excellence, training school managers and teachers in seven pilot regions: Chernivtsi, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Rivne, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhia. Duration: 2019-2023. EU4Skills is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).