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The first session of the training titled “‘Donbas/Crimea-Ukraine’ Education Centers: Features of the 2021 Admission Campaign” started on May 16 in the training center of the NGO “Open Policy Foundation” at the International Green School in the village of Kosmach, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. This training is intended for managers and employees of Education Centers, higher education institutions, colleges, and vocational schools of Donetsk, Luhansk, and other regions.

The event is organized by the Open Policy Foundation together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, with the support of the USAID’s “Democratic Governance in Eastern Ukraine” project.

Svitlana KRETOVYCH, Head of the Main Department of Higher and Adult Education of the Directorate of Professional Pre-higher and Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, acquainted the participants with the new legal framework of Education Centers (ECs) and the peculiarities of the 2021 Admission Campaign for entrants from the temporarily occupied territories. Svitlana Kretovych also talked to educators in the “question-and-answer” format and this gave the opportunity to get comprehensive answers to the most pressing questions.

Vitalii NOSOK, a state expert of the expert group on higher education and adult education of the Main Department of Higher Education and Adult Education of the Directorate of Professional Pre-higher and Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, spoke about the peculiarities of providing the Unified State Electronic Database on Education with the information about children who enter HEIs using the simplified procedure.

Executive Director of the Open Policy Foundation Iryna ZHDANOVA presented a document “Guidelines on the work of government and regional hotlines, education centers during the admission campaign-2021” created by the Foundation's experts.

“The guidance manual contains information for educators who work with entrants from the temporarily occupied territories, both during an admission campaign and after it,” Iryna Zhdanova explains. “These are the legal documents that regulate the activities of Education Centers and determine the features of the admission campaign-2021, in particular, the procedure for simplified entry of children from TOT, step-by-step instructions for applicants, a list of Education Centers according to regions, detailed instructions for hotline consultants, useful contacts, and lots of other practical information.”

Moreover, according to Iryna Zhdanova, the Open Policy Foundation initiated a WhatsApp chat which was devoted to the 2021 Admission Campaign and aimed at communication and mutual assistance between the managers of the “Donbas/Crimea-Ukraine” Education Centers. The group was presented during a meeting at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; it was immediately joined by 37 participants, and this process is ongoing. The high activity of the group proves that the ECs’ managers needed such a private channel of communication to share their experiences and discuss current issues.

Alla ZINCHENKO, PR Manager of the Open Policy Foundation and Associate Professor of  Public Relation Department at the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” spoke with educators about special aspects of the “Donbas/Crimea-Ukraine” Education Centers promotion activities, which includes the development of communication strategies, media plans, information products, as well as knowledge of digital marketing. 

In general, the training will last until May 27. The program also consists of the following components: exchange of experience in documentation management of Education Centers; analysis of successful and problematic cases of ECs; acquaintance with the basics of risk management, cloud management, management of an EC admission campaign in an Internet format; work with Google Docs and Google Calendar; training on the principles of gender equality and social inclusion.