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The Open Policy Foundation and the Donetsk RSA launch a regional education hotline for residents of the oblast non-government controlled areas

March 1, 2019, 11:33 a.m.

The Admission Campaign 2019 and the opening of the regional telephone hotline on education for residents of non-government controlled areas of Ukraine (hereinafter - NGCA) and territories along the “contact line” in Donetsk Oblast are the topics, which were considered during a press briefing on 27 February in Kramatorsk. The event was initiated and organized by the Open Policy Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Donetsk Regional State Administration.

 

The press briefing was attended by Svitlana KRETOVYCH, the acting director of the Department of Higher Education and Head of the Sector of Internally Displaced Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Iryna ZHDANOVA, the executive director of the Open Policy Foundation, and Tetyana SIDASHEVA, the acting director of the Department of Education and Science of the Donetsk RSA.

During the event, telephone numbers of the regional hotline on education, which starts working at the Department of Education and Science of Donetsk RSA in March 1, were announced.

The telephone numbers of the regional hotline on education, which will work in Kramatorsk:

0 800 504 522 – TOLL-FREE!

Mobile telephone numbers: +38 066 113 93 75, +38 097 904 71 91.

 

The hotline telephone number of the main contact center in Kyiv: 0 800 504 425 – toll-free!

Mobile telephone numbers: +38 068-951-25-13; +38 050-550-54-11 (Viber/Telegram/WhatsApp/Skype: Dostupna Osvita UA). The telephones operate on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. (lunch time from 01:00 p.m. to 02:00 p.m.).

 

For four years, the Open Policy Foundation with the support of UNICEF and USAID has managed the work of the hotline on education for children and youth from NGCA and territories along the “contact line” (with MoES, during the admission campaign). In 2018, the hotline of the Open Policy Foundation received almost 5 thousand calls more than last year. Consequently, more entrants from the Donetska NGCA were able to learn about how to enter universities and colleges on the territory of Ukraine. In 2018, we received 13 290 calls, 1872 of them came from non-government controlled areas of Ukrainian (1,417 calls from Donbas and 455 calls from Crimea).

“Speaking about access to education for children and young people from non-government controlled areas of Ukraine, according to the Ukraine Education Clusters, this year, 120,000 children need to receive state-recognized education certificates. Their number is constantly increasing,” said Iryna ZHDANOVA, the executive director of the Open policy Foundation, in her speech during the press briefing. “If two years ago, the number reached to about 75 thousand, last year it was already 99 thousand, this year it is expected already 120 thousand. The Open Policy Foundation has the hotline which provides a sharp increase in the number of calls on these issues.

“For four years of the war, the generation that has entered educational institutions in non-government controlled areas has already grown. This year they graduated with a bachelor's degree and realized that the documents they had received there were not recognized not only in Ukraine but in other countries of the world, including Russia. Therefore, the problem of access to education and an information campaign becomes more and more relevant. It is very pleasant that this year we launch the hotline together with Donetsk RSA,” Iryna ZHDANOVA said.

She also added that the Foundation actively communicates with IOM, the departments of education and science in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and this year, in addition to UNICEF, other international organizations, USAID, began to support the hotline project.

“This cooperation demonstrates positive results we have achieved. Many students, schoolchildren, and parents appeal to the hotline. We have a number of success stories. One such story relates to the question: what to do without recognized documents. Our hotline consultants advised entering the universities at which the “Donbas-Ukraine” Educational Centers operated. At first, they did not believe that it was possible to enter, and even on the state-funded basis, without a Ukrainian certificate, IEE, even without a Ukrainian passport. And it was very nice when they called the hotline to inform about entering the Horlivka Institute of Foreign Languages ​​(now moved to Bakhmut) and thanked for a consultation. This child has a state-funded education. There are so many stories. This gives confidence that we need to develop this direction,” convinced the head of the Open Policy Foundation.

The participants at the press briefing also talked about the information campaign and presented a new social advertisement. So, in order to share important information among entrants, the Open Policy Foundation and MoES have conducted an active information campaign for 4 years. The main message of the campaign is “Education is available to everyone!” Last year, the Foundation's information campaign used leaflets, posters, road maps, and video clips to cover more than 2 million Ukrainians, including those from non-government controlled areas of Ukraine.

This year, the Foundation, with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and MoES, produced a new product with information on the admission terms for entrants from NGCA and territories along the “contact line:”

  • The animated video clip “Simplified Admission Procedure 2019 for Graduates from NGCA, contact line”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77qt-pOalO0;
  • Posters, leaflets and banner “Admission Campaign 2019 for Entrants from Eastern Ukraine”;
  • A list of the “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers;
  • A road map for the entrant “Simplified Admission Procedure: 4 Steps.”

“In February we already can present you the road map, which will be distributed at entry-exit checkpoints,” Iryna ZHDANOVA said. “It has a complete algorithm of action for entrants. And, what is very important, the road map consists of the hotline telephones that work in Kramatorsk and Sieverodonetsk. The national hotline, which we plan to run together with the Ministry of Education and Science during the admission campaign, continues to work. In February, we will also distribute banners and posters at EECPs, transport stations, Educational Centers and schools. We are glad to cooperate with all who will contribute to the distribution of materials. Important partners in this sphere are also Ukrzaliznytsya, the State Border Guard Service, and many TV and radio channels, which inform inhabitants of non-government controlled areas.”

An updated website dostupnaosvita.com.ua was presented at the press briefing. Now all the necessary information for schoolchildren and entrants on the external study, distance education and conditions for entering Ukrainian universities will be presented in a more accessible and modern form. It is important that the “Available Education” website will be adapted to visually impaired people.

During the event, the acting director of the MoES’s Department of Higher Education Svitlana KRETOVYCH announced the specifics of the admission campaign 2019. The “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers will work for this year entrants from June to September.

“Last year, twice as many entrants from non-government controlled areas entered universities and colleges using the “Donbas-Ukraine” Educational Centers. It is really very difficult to inform them about the ability to enter higher education institutions, as well as about distance education and external studies at schools,” noted Svitlana KRETOVYCH. “Entrance through the Education Centers using a simplified procedure envisages that entrants do not need to pass IEE, have a passport or a secondary education certificate recognized by the state. The information materials developed considering this information will help entrants to learn about the algorithm of actions they need for the entry. We hope jointly, with the help of the Open Policy Foundation, to increase the number of entrants from non-government controlled areas.”

Every year, the number of people who want to study at Ukrainian higher education institutions and schools of Donetsk region is growing.

“We noticed that the number of children is much larger than before. So, this school year, almost 3,000 children from non-government controlled areas involved in distance education and external studies,” said the acting director of the Department of Education and Science of the Donetsk RSA Tetyana SIDASHEVA at the press briefing.

The Open Policy Foundation plans to conduct the information campaign at the regional level. The Foundation, with the support of USAID and in cooperation with MoES and regional education departments, held a series of training sessions for 46 educators from Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts on how to develop a communication strategy, to properly conduct an information campaign and to make social video.

“In my opinion, it is important to conduct it not in Donetsk region but in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast at the International Green School, high in the mountains,” Iryna ZHDANOVA said. “Such mobility and contacts between educators from different regions have an additional synergistic effect: the partnership and the establishment of bridges for peace and the removal of certain stereotypes politicians often impose. They visited a local school, danced together and communicated with schoolchildren. And they saw that in reality there is no big difference between regions: they have the same problems and the same dreams.

“A prominent German statesman Otto von Bismarck said, ‘Generals do not win the wars. The wars are won by school teachers and priests,’” Iryna Zhdanova, the executive director of the Open Policy Foundation, reminded in her speech. “The work with educators is important (it is especially relevant for the area near the “contact line”) in order to have peace in the state. We know what we do and for whom - for the sake of our children! Education should be available not only for everyone but for the sake of peace!”

The local media, including “Espresso TV,” “S-PLUS” and “Region-Donbas” TV channels, as well as the “Visti Donbasu” newspaper, also participated in the press briefing. More than 1,500 people have already watched the online broadcasting of the event on the Facebook page of the Open Policy Foundation. You can find the video of the press briefing following the link: http://tinyurl.com/y3lztz7y.

The press briefing was organized by the NGO “Open Policy Foundation” in the partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Donetsk Regional State Administration and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mass media about the briefing of the Open Policy Foundation in Kramatorsk:

 

  • “A regional education hotline for residents of the occupied territories will start working in Kramatorsk from March 1.” The “East Project” website:

http://vp.donetsk.ua/gorod-region/gorod/72440-v-kramatorske-s-1-marta-zarabotaet-regionalnaya-goryachaya-liniya-po-voprosam-obrazovaniya-dlya-zhitelej-okkupirovannykh-territorij

 

 

  • “From March 1, a regional hotline on education will be launched in Kramatorsk for residents of the occupied territories.” The “Kramatorsk News” website:

https://hi.dn.ua/novosti/novosti-kramatorska/v-kramatorske-s-1-marta-zarabotaet-regionalnaya-goryachaya-liniya-po-voprosam-obrazovaniya-dlya-zhitelej-okkupirovannykh-territorij

 

 

  • A press briefing on «The Admission Campaign 2019 and the opening of the regional telephone hotline on education for residents of non-government controlled areas of Ukraine and territories along the “contact line” in Luhansk Oblast». The Facebook group of the “0642.ua - site of the city of Luhansk.”

https://www.facebook.com/lugansk0642ua/posts/2129914217064543

 

 

  • Attention! In 10 minutes, a live stream of a press briefing “The Admission Campaign 2019 and the opening of the regional telephone hotline on education ... in the Donetsk region” begins.

The Facebook page of the Open Policy Foundation:

https://www.facebook.com/OpenPolicyFoundation/

 

- “Schoolchildren from non-government controlled areas will receive additional opportunities for education.” The “Visti Donbasu (Donbus News)” newspaper:

http://www.vesti.dn.ua/shkolyari-z-nepidkontrolnih-teritorij-otrimajut-dodatkovi-mozhlivosti-dlya-zdobuttya-osviti/

 

  • “A live stream of a press briefing ‘The Admission Campaign 2019 and the opening of the regional telephone hotline on education ... in the Donetsk region.’”

The Facebook page of the Open Policy Foundation:  

https://bit.ly/2Nw6Trp

 

  • “The Open Policy Foundation together with the Donetsk RSA launches a regional hotline on education for residents of non-government controlled areas.”

The Facebook page of the Open Policy Foundation: https://www.facebook.com/OpenPolicyFoundation/posts/2110526629068751?__tn__=K-R

 

  • The Open Policy Foundation and the Donetsk RSA launch a regional hotline on education for residents of non-government controlled areas of the region.” News in Ukrainian and English on the website of the Open Policy Foundation:
    http://openpolicy.org.ua/news/275/

 

- “A hotline for graduates from non-government controlled areas will be opened in Kramatorsk.” The “Eurochernigov” website:
https://eurochernigov.com/news/v-kramatorske-otkrojut-gorjachuju-liniju-dlja-vypusknikov-s-nepodkontrolnyh-territorij/

 

 

  • “A hotline for graduates from the occupied territories will be opened in the Donetsk region.”
    The “Tribun” newspaper: https://tribun.com.ua/56983

 

  • News on the Donetsk RSA website:

https://dn.gov.ua/ua/news/u-kramatorsku-vidkriyut-regionalnu-garyachu-liniyu-z-pitan-osviti-dlya-meshkanciv-nepidkontrolnih-teritorij-ta-teritorij-uzdovzh-liniyi-rozmezhuvannya

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • “A press briefing on the admission campaign for residents of non-government controlled areas takes place in Kramatorsk …” Online broadcasting of the briefing on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Education and Science: https://www.facebook.com/UAMON/

 

  • A press briefing in Kramatorsk.”

The Facebook page of Donetsk “62.ua”: https://www.facebook.com/donetsk62ua/posts/2199560956754257