Teachers are the key to any educational reform, regardless of the country or other circumstances. That is why Ukraine is working on increasing the salary of teachers, their training, on creating a space in which the teacher will have more opportunities for group learning, which encourages the child's natural curiosity. In particular, from 2019, new tools for encouraging teachers will come into effect - certification and the "money follows the teacher" mechanism for professional development, which will open greater opportunities for self-realization. The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Liliya Hrynyvych, said this at the World Education Forum during the panel "Emotional and social adaptation of children through school" today, January 22, 2019, in London.
"Last year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Ukrainian teacher Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi, who is known, in particular, for the concept of the School of Joy created by him. More than half a century ago, he said: “In our schools there should not be unhappy children whose souls are oppressed by the thought that they are not capable of anything. Success in education is the only source of a child's inner strength, which generates energy to overcome difficulties and the desire to learn." We revive this idea in the New Ukrainian School - the idea that the learning process is something more than just subject knowledge. This is social and emotional learning, which should be at the core of school education," Liliya Hrynevych explained.
She added that there are three key directions of the reform - updating the content of education and standards, supporting and training teachers and creating a new educational space.
"However, in the end, all these three elements converge on the teacher, and the success of the reform in general, as well as the success of each individual child, depends on him. Our task is to help the teacher to fulfill the norms of the approved standard, to give knowledge of methods, as well as support - financial and through the educational space, which helps to implement new ambitious educational standards," the Minister said.
Liliya Hrynevych emphasized that on the eve of the start of the reform, Ukraine had extremely serious evidence of its necessity. In particular, there were data that during schooling in children with 40%, the morbidity of the digestive system increases, with 70% – the nervous system, and with 30% – the cardiovascular system.
