The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved an updated state standard of preschool education. This was announced by Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.

The new document, created on the basis of the work of scientists and practitioners, contains a modern vision of the content of preschool education and establishes a unified framework to be followed by preschool education institutions across the country. The standard defines the key competencies and expected outcomes that a child should achieve by the end of the preschool period.

The standard will serve as a basis for curriculum designers and help teachers focus on clearly defined target outcomes. According to the minister, the document is based on a number of principles: academic and organisational autonomy of institutions, freedom of teachers to choose their methods of work, the ability to choose from different programmes, and consideration of the individual needs and capabilities of each child.

The standard will officially come into force on 1 September 2027.

Over the next six months, the State Education Quality Service will test it in kindergartens to ensure that the document is practical, understandable and meets the real-life experience of teachers. If necessary, the standard will be amended.

After that, the developers of educational programmes will have one year to adapt them to the new requirements. The goal of the reform is to ensure equal opportunities for all children, regardless of the region and conditions in which they receive preschool education.