Expanding distance learning opportunities and increasing the number of counseling centers for children from the occupied territories of Donbass and Crimea, development of professional education. These areas should be included in the new Program cycle of UNICEF in Ukraine for 2018-2022. This was agreed upon by Deputy Minister of Education and Science Roman Hreba with representatives of the "Open Politics" Foundation and UNICEF during a meeting at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

"Currently, we are jointly implementing the "Accessible Education" program, which helps children from Crimea and Donbas to remotely prepare for the VET and DPA in Ukrainian language and history. Also on this resource there are links to mobile applications and contacts for contacting consultation centers. But we want to expand this program, to focus it also on children from small villages and remote regions throughout Ukraine. This will help improve the quality of education," said Roman Hreba.

He added that the MES promotes the development of educational resources for distance learning. Currently, within the framework of the New Ukrainian School reform, a National online educational platform is being created, which should concentrate useful resources and tools for learning. They will help in preparing for the ZNO and DPA and will be useful not only for students, but also for teachers.

In 2016, a "hot line" was opened for young people who want to obtain higher or vocational education in Ukraine. Having received positive feedback from her work, the Ministry of Education and Culture, together with UNICEF and the "Open Politics" Foundation, created a network of advisory centers. Currently, there are such in Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk and Kherson.

"In 2017, 1,568 applicants entered the Donbas-Ukraine and Crimea-Ukraine educational centers. This is 1.5 times more than in 2016. We have this result thanks to a more active information campaign among entrants. We can attract even more entrants from Donbas and Crimea to our universities if we increase the network of advisory centers, make the format of submission of materials more innovative and accessible," the Deputy Minister emphasized.

The parties also discussed that the development of professional and technical education should be taken into account in the new cycles of cooperation with UNICEF. After all, according to Roman Hreba, it is important to show young people the advantages of this direction, its availability for study and the demand for graduates on the labor market.