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Education-for Everyone! The Open Policy Foundation and the Luhansk RSA launch a regional education hotline in Sieverodonetsk

March 12, 2019, 9:36 a.m.

The NGO “Open Policy Foundation” deepens cooperation with Luhansk RSA and continues to jointly hold an information campaign for children and youth from temporarily non-government controlled areas of Ukraine (hereinafter - NGCA), territories along the “contact line”. This year, the result of such cooperation is the opening on March 11 of the regional hotline on education in Sieverodonetsk; it was announced during a press briefing on March 1 at V. Dahl EUNU, organized by the Open Policy Foundation together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Luhansk Regional State Administration.

The press briefing was attended by Svitlana KRETOVYCH, the acting director of the Department of Higher Education and the head of the Sector of Internally Displaced Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Iryna ZAGORODNIA, an expert of the Open Policy Foundation, Olga LISHYK, the deputy head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Yurii STETSIUK, the director of the Department of Education and Science of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, and Iryna TSYMBAL, the director of the Luhansk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education.

“The Open Policy Foundation transfers responsibility for the regional education hotline for residents of non-government controlled areas of Ukraine and territories along the “contact line” in Luhansk Oblast. From March 11, it will work in Sieverodonetsk at the Luhansk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. We thank the Luhansk RSA and the Regional Education Department for cooperation; it is not the first time they support the Foundation's initiatives. The growth in the number of appeals and the number of entrants from NGCAs is an incentive for us to continue the information campaign to inform as many young people as possible about educational opportunities in Ukraine,” said the expert of the Open Policy Foundation Iryna ZAGORODNIA.

☎️ Telephone numbers of the regional hotline in Sieverodonetsk:

Toll-free - 0 800 504 511,

Following mobile numbers are also available: +38 099 345 20 76, +38 097 983 65 31.

The Open Policy Foundation’s hotline has been working for the fourth year with the support of UNICEF and USAID, in particular during the admission campaign of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The telephone hotline 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).

Phones are available on working days from 9:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. (lunch time, from 01:00 p.m. to 02:00 p.m.).

According to Iryna ZAGORODNIA, every year the number of appeals to the hotline is increasing, which is reflected also in the number of entrants from the NGCAs. In 2018, they were more in 2017 despite the demographic pitfall. They enter using a simplified procedure through the “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers. So, 1,522 graduates from the east entered the universities of Ukraine in 2018 using such a procedure - twice as many as in 2016. Thus, 855 people were in 2016 and 1346 entrants, in 2017.

Every year, the number of schoolchildren from NGCAs who want to receive distance education at GCA schools in Luhansk Oblast is growing.

“As of today, 707 children study externally at the institutions of general secondary education (256 graduates of the 11th forms, 265 graduates of the 9th forms), and 285 schoolchildren receive distance education. The most of them go to schools of Lysychansk, the Stanychno-Luhansk and Sieverodonetsk districts. Taking into account the tendency of previous years, we predict that their number will be certainly increased until the new academic year,” said the director of the Department of Education and Science of the Luhansk RSA Yurii STETSIUK. “I am sure that this year both our Educational Centers and the Luhansk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, where the hotline will be located, will provide answers to all requests from the non-government controlled areas, and the entrants will receive consultations and become students.”

During the event, the acting director of the Department of Higher Education of MoES Svitlana KRETOVYCH also announced the specifics of the admission campaign in 2019. This year, the “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers will work for entrants from June to the end of September. She said that more Education Centers will work this year because more colleges are involved (last year there were 37 institutions). Their final list will be published on the website of MoES and on the website of “Available Education” (dostupnaosvita.com.ua).

“The “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers have already been operating for four years. Last year, twice as many university entrants from non-government controlled areas as it was from the very beginning used this simplified procedure through these Centers. In 2018, they were more than 1.5 thousand people. It is expected that the number of appeals to the Centers will increase because this year the number of appeals of graduates who received a “paper” about the so-called education in the non-government controlled areas has increased, and they do not know what to do with it,” Svitlana KRETOVYCH noted. “We are talking about those children who do not have Ukrainian certificates, and we create certain conditions for them. Entrance through Education Centers using a simplified procedure suggests that it is not necessarily for the entrant to pass IEE, have a passport or a state-recognized certificate of general secondary education. The developed materials with this information will help learn about the algorithm of actions that must be completed to enter. We hope, with the help of the Open Policy Foundation, to increase the number of entrants from non-government controlled areas.”

During the briefing, Olga LISHYK, the deputy head of the Luhansk RSA, addressed parents of children living in the non-government controlled area in order to use the opportunity to receive a decent education for their children, using information available on the websites of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Open Education Foundation.

In order to bring important information to the entrants, the Open Policy Foundation, in conjunction with MoES, the Luhansk and Donetsk RSAs has conducted an active information campaign for 4 years. So, last year, its result was that the campaign covered more than 2 million people in Ukraine, including those from the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine, through social videos, leaflets, posters and roadmaps. The printed products, with the support of the State Border Guard Service, were placed at all EECPs of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as at Education Centers, in local transport, trains, Intercity railcars of Ukrzaliznytsia, at premises of employment centers, pension funds, social security departments, “Donbas-Inform” newspapers and on Internet resources. Video and audio clips that received the status of social advertising were broadcasted on TV channels and radio stations “Voice of Donbas”, “Ukrainian radio”, Gromadske.UA|TV, “Ukraine” TV channel, “Chernomorka” TV channel, UA:Donbas, etc.

This year, the Foundation, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and MoES, timely prepared and distributed new products with information on the conditions of admission in 2019 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”;
The list of the “Donbas-Ukraine” Education Centers;
The road map for the entrant “Simplified Admission Procedure: 4 Steps.”

A part of media products (banners, posters and leaflets) thanks to the State Border Guard Service has already been successfully placed at EECPs in Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts.

An updated dostupnaosvita.com.ua website, developed by well-known Ukrainian start-up Sannacode Company, was also presented at the press briefing. It is important that now the “Available Education” website will be adapted to visually impaired people.

The Open Policy Foundation also continues to work with regional educators and conduct appropriate training for them. This work has benefits, and the opening of the hotline precisely at the regional institute of postgraduate pedagogical education is a striking result of such cooperation.

“We have an agreement on cooperation with the Open Policy Foundation. I personally participated in the Foundation’s training at the International Green School, and I personally confirm their high quality,” said Iryna TSYMBAL, the director of the Luhansk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. “Each call that reaches the hotline is the child’s destiny. Therefore, we identified the institute’s employees, who would very correctly and carefully respond to calls and provide support for the child. They were trained by the Foundation. I’d like to add that such tours to other regions are very important both for pedagogical workers and children. We will contribute to the development of this activity.”

The local media, including “UA:DONBAS” and STV TV channels, “Luganshchyna.ua” and the “Puls Fm” radio took part in the press briefing. More than 900 people have already watched the online broadcasting of the event on the Facebook page of the Open Policy Foundation, as well as on the page of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. You can find the video of the press briefing following the link: https://bit.ly/2SzeQwD.

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

Photos by the Open Policy Foundation and the Public Relations Department of the V. Dahl EUNU.

Mass media monitoring about the briefing of the Open Policy Foundation in Sieverodonetsk:

- “ANNOUNCEMENT! A press briefing in Sieverodonetsk ‘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 account of the city of Luhansk: https://www.facebook.com/lugansk0642ua/posts/2129914217064543

- “Announcement of the briefing on the Luhansk RSA website”:

http://loga.gov.ua/oda/press/announces/pyatnicya_01032019

- “A press briefing ‘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 page of the Open Policy Foundation: https://www.facebook.com/OpenPolicyFoundation/posts/2111410772313670?__tn__=K-R

- A live stream of a press briefing in Sieverodonetsk “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 page of the Open Policy Foundation: https://bit.ly/2SzeQwD

The Facebook page of the Ministry of Education and Science: www.facebook.com/UAMON/

- A live stream of a press briefing “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 page of the V. Dahl EUNU’s law department: https://www.facebook.com/eunu.law/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARC3II9X3TM--L5flZTBsGSO_IX8hKCbHDPQhsFI8ziAW1BwqqYJDUTd-E6PxvYNRVnTw6fGgnFcw93O&hc_ref=ARQPbO2JuCIKXA8XCqWzccXvpR3dg6y4hlg5y4O8j2ZfjvxXINCNahcuxLYrkmBxHC4

The Facebook page of the “Available Education”: https://www.facebook.com/dostupnaosvita/

- “From March 11, a regional education hotline of the Open Policy Foundation will be launched.”

News on the Luhansk RSA site: http://loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/z_11_bereznya_pochne_pracyuvati_regionalna_garyachoyi_liniyi_z_pitan_osviti_fondu

- News on the Luhansk RSA site: http://loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/z_11_bereznya_pochne_pracyuvati_regionalna_garyachoyi_liniyi_z_pitan_osviti_fondu

- “A telephone hotline for entrants from ORDLO was presented in Sieverodonetsk.”

The website of “Prav-DA (The Truth)”: http://prav-da.com.ua/553-v-severodonecke-predstavili-gorjachuyu-liniyu-dlja-postupayuschih-iz-orlo.html

- “From March 11, a regional education hotline of the Open Policy Foundation will be launched.”

The website of the Luhansk RSA’s Department of Education and Science:

http://oblosvita-lg.gov.ua/%D0%B7-11-%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BD%D1%8F-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86%D1%8E%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B3%D1%96%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD/

The website of the V. Dahl EUNU: https://snu.edu.ua/?p=28734

- “From March 1, a regional education hotline will start working.”

The “SNIP” website: http://snip.net.ua/20190301/z-11-bereznya-pochne-pratsyuvaty-regionalna-garyachoyi-liniyi-z-pytan-osvity/