The need to create an internationally recognized certification exam in Ukrainian as a foreign language has long been ripe in Ukraine. This was stated by the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Liliya Hrynevych, speaking to the participants of the VI World Forum of Ukrainians on August 20 at the Ukrainian House.

"When I attend such events, I always feel proud that people who speak a whole range of world languages on a daily basis speak Ukrainian among themselves. At such moments, I am sure that the Ukrainian language should have the status of the language of international communication. We have recently approved the general education standard of Ukrainian as a foreign language, in accordance with European recommendations, but we have yet to create an internationally recognized certification exam for Ukrainian as a foreign language. Thus, we will be able to invite even more representatives of different peoples to study our language, to get to know Ukraine as a modern European nation," Liliya Hrynevych said.

Representatives of the diaspora supported this initiative and emphasized that the creation of such an exam will be important not only for foreigners interested in Ukraine, but also for representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora.

"It is absolutely necessary to develop and establish standards for knowledge of the Ukrainian language, a kind of Ukrainian analogue of the TOEFL. In addition, it is necessary to develop manuals for learning the Ukrainian language as a foreign language in sufficient quantity and at the appropriate level, because for a significant number of the diaspora it is already one that must be studied as a foreign language", - stressed the head of the Ukrainian World Coordination Council Mykhailo Ratushny.