43,000 devices for education: MoES and Google have signed a partnership agreement

During the Education World Forum in London on May 23 the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhiy Shkarlet met with Global Director of Marketing of Google for Education Samantha Peterthe and Government Relations Program Lead of EMEA William Florence to sign a partnership agreement on the supply of 43,000 devices for Ukrainian teachers. 

The agreement stipulates the provision of the computer equipment, software, content, as well as training in digital competence for Ukrainian teachers and researchers with the support of UNESCO and other global development partners.

“Our state has made significant progress in the digital transformation of education during a full-scale war of the russian federation against Ukraine. On the one hand it’s about the creation of various online services and providing teachers with modern devices on the other. We have implemented the all-Ukrainian project "Laptop for every teacher" with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, having purchased more than 60,000 laptops. We planned to continue this project, however the war has put our plans on hold. Most laptops were at destroyed or damaged schools. The major part of it was stolen from educational institutions. Now we have to start from the beginning. Google has supported Ukrainian education in numerous projects, including the deployment of Google Workspace for Education (Google Classroom) in educational institutions and conducting large-scale All-Ukrainian training for educators and scientists to improve digital competence through using Google services in education and science. We are grateful to Google and our partners for many years of cooperation, as well as steps taken towards the Ukrainian educational sphere during the war", Serhyi Shkarlet said.

Google is providing financial assistance to purchase, license and deliver 43,000 Chromebooks to Ukrainian teachers. Google will also help schools to optimize settings remotely with the Chrome Enterprise update.

Google works with local organizations to provide the best experience for using these devices. In total, it is planned to conduct trainings for about 50,000 teachers. Through a series of trainings and online materials teachers will learn how to use their devices.

Moreover, Google is offering free access to some premium Workspace for Education features for Ukrainian universities and colleges until the end of the year. This means that HEIs and colleges will be able to extend the number of participants during the online sessions up to 250 with a possibility to record on Disk.

Google for Education will also continue to update resources such as “Teach Wherever You Are”, a central resource developed during the pandemic that includes information, advice, training, and learning tools.

The company has also expanded its Youtube channel for Ukrainian students aged 13-17. The service includes a number of subjects that correspond to the national program of Ukrainian literature and language, physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, etc.