The Ukrainian government has identified the first 72 vocational education institutions that will receive UAH 500 million from the budget and will start modernizing their workshops in late spring. Students will start studying in them starting next academic year. The Ministry of Education and Science will also set up two workshops for operators of civilian drones, including ground and floating ones.
Priority areas
“We will upgrade most of the workshops in the areas of agriculture, catering, industry and mechanical engineering, as well as construction and road transport,” says Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology.
According to him, these are the areas where business needed specialists “yesterday.” Now students will have the opportunity to gain practical skills in renovated workshops with modern equipment. The money will be used to buy machines, tools, tool kits, combines, tractors, compressors, jacks and many other equipment, as well as to repair classrooms.
So, these are the most popular areas in which workshops will be created in 72 vocational schools:
- Agriculture – 14 workshops;
- catering – 10 workshops;
- industry and machine building – 7 workshops;
- construction and road transport – 6 workshops.
Drone operators
Workshops for drone operators will be set up at the Ternopil Vocational College with enhanced military and physical training and the Chernivtsi Higher Vocational School of Radio Electronics.
The profession of drone operator will be licensed this year. After all, it is very important not only in war but also in peaceful life.
In 2024, it will be possible to learn how to fly civilian drones in 7 vocational schools across the country. The educational institutions have already received 28 drones, and their teachers have mastered the theoretical and practical program for such training.
In 2022, the Ministry of Education and Science, together with the EU Delegation, began working on developing drone pilot training programs. The pilot was launched in two vocational schools in Lviv and Dnipro regions. In a year, they managed to create curricula for initial vocational training, course training, and club work.
“Our goal for 2024 is to improve drone training in vocational schools where such programs already exist and expand the network of institutions offering such training. In addition, an important task is to approve a professional educational standard, involving business and local managers in this process,” said Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.
Development of workshops
The Ministry of Education and Science will develop the rules for future workshops together with the BigCityLab urban bureau. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science will update the design of vocational school websites in cooperation with the Spiilk design bureau.
Last year, together with the Ministry of Education and Science, we launched the 100 Workshops project to create modern spaces for quality education in vocational schools. Applications were submitted by 202 institutions out of 647. Currently, 72 project participants have been selected, and workshops in other vocational schools will be updated with the help of international partners and businesses.
“Vocational schools and their graduates are the basis for rebuilding the country. Given that the need for working professions is constantly growing, future specialists will study in modern spaces with up-to-date equipment. Quality education is one of the pillars of human capital preservation,” adds Fedorov.
