The 100 schools piloting the new state standard for primary education, their teachers, vice-principals and principals are agents of change who are the backbone of the reform and through whose experiences the expertise of the next changes is spread. This was emphasized by the Minister of Education and Science, Liliya Hrynevych, during a meeting with the teachers of the pilot classes of the "Educational and Educational Association No. 25" in the city of Kropyvnytskyi during a working trip to the Kirovohrad region.
"We already have the first results of children's education in pilot schools. And what is most important - we have achieved that children want to go to school. Now this is one of the most acute problems - the loss of motivation to study among children of a younger age. However, it is necessary to understand that without financial investments, the implementation of the reform is impossible. 100 pilot schools of the National Academy of Sciences are a pillar for the reform of general secondary education, as well as 1 billion 800 million UAH, which the state will invest in its launch," Liliya Hrynevych said.
In particular, 998.7 million is provided for providing primary school students with educational tools and mobile furniture, 163.818 million for the purchase of equipment for primary schools, 386.5 million for improving the qualifications of teachers, 48.349 million for educational and methodological literature for primary classes and UAH 272.382 million – for textbooks for the 1st grade. Together, this amounts to 1 billion 869 million 812 thousand hryvnias.
In "Educational and educational association #25" there are two pilot classes - 30 and 32 students, respectively. In order to create the necessary educational environment in these classes, from August 2017 to February 2018, the Department of Education of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council purchased furniture (cabinets, tables, chairs), equipment and visual didactic materials (models of geometric bodies and figures, tangrams, demonstration scales, mathematical tablets, models of mechanical watches, etc.) in the amount of UAH 73,743.
Ludmila Zhuravlyova, the teacher of the pilot class, noted that the new standard requires significantly more effort from the teacher. "You have to constantly and dynamically work with children, it's difficult. But that's how you constantly learn, and it's really interesting," the teacher said.
During Lilia Hrynevych's stay at the institution, she was also told that the school has been actively participating in the "English Cambridge Schools" project for 3 years - a course for students of grades 1-11, built on innovative methodological ideas. It provides an opportunity to apply an integrated approach to the process of learning English and to use teaching and examination materials recognized throughout the world.
