How to implement the principles laid down in the State Standard of Specialised Secondary Education and the draft Model Educational Programme in practice? The 30 lyceums-ambassadors of the high school reform worked on creating effective models during the national forum ‘Higher Specialised School: From Curriculum to Practice’.
The event also included an exhibition of equipment for science laboratories.
The forum was part of the preparation of the ambassador lyceums for the piloting of the reform elements starting from 1 September 2025. In particular, it is planned to test approaches to the organisation of the educational process and the formation of educational trajectories for students through the choice of profiles and subjects/courses.
“Despite the challenges facing our education, it is important not to stop the reforms. The Ukrainian economy is already paying dearly for prolonged distance learning – and will pay even more if there is no development of education. We are investing in returning students to full-time education, but it is equally important to rethink the content of education and invest in educational spaces. In particular, we have allocated UAH 500 million for pilot lyceums and almost UAH 500 million for other institutions. But the most important thing is how the reform will be implemented in schools. Pilot lyceums are the institutions that will serve as examples for others. The ultimate goal of the reform is a fulfilled personality who, having reflected on their learning experience, will say that it is all thanks to the school and the teacher,” said Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi.
Read more about ‘Profilna’: the high school reform here.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has engaged practitioners and educational experts from both Ukraine and abroad to prepare the reform. Among the partners helping to develop the content of the reform is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, known for global educational research, including PISA.
“Ukraine is looking for its own way of reforming high school, but it relies on international experience. And pilot lyceums will be the first leaders in the reform. The most important thing they have gained in almost a year of intensive training is a community of teachers united by the idea of reform and ready to support each other. When we talk about reform, it cannot be done by one ministry or one school. It requires initiative, ideas, and cooperation. Pilot lyceums are shaping the future of education. This is not an easy task, but I am confident that we will see good ideas being implemented and practice becoming a new culture,” said Andreas Schleicher, Director of the OECD Education and Skills Department.
The high school reform also brought together other international partners who systematically support the development of education. The forum was organised in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development with the support of the Renaissance Foundation, savED Foundation, the World Bank and the Ukraine Recovery, Rehabilitation and Transformation Trust Fund (URTF).
“The World Bank has been and remains a reliable partner in supporting education and innovation and in building human capital in Ukraine in general. It is important that every child has access to quality education and can develop in Ukraine. This task requires the combined efforts of the government, educators, NGOs, and international partners. The World Bank’s priority is to support the continuous implementation of the New Ukrainian School reform. The main components of the LEARN programme are the construction of shelters, institutional development, procurement of school buses, professional development of teachers and provision of STEM equipment, IKT tools and other resources for grades 8-12, provision of textbooks, as well as piloting and rolling out the NUS reform in grades 7-9,” said Yana Konotopenko, World Bank education consultant.
Educational changes are aimed at long-term results, so the synergy of stakeholders is extremely important. Education is the foundation for the development of the state.
“Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the International Renaissance Foundation has focused its efforts on ensuring that Ukraine survives and wins. Education is an extremely important component of our strategy of how to survive and how to win. Unfortunately, we have a demographic crisis, so it is very difficult to increase the population. But education improves the quality of human capital – and, ultimately, it can help Ukraine make an innovative leap,” said Hryhoriy Baran, Director of the Social Capital Programme at the International Renaissance Foundation.
During the national forum, principals and teachers of the pilot lyceums worked on the following practical issues:
- How to develop a curriculum for an educational institution based on the Model Educational Programme for Specialised Secondary Education?
- How to organise the timetable in an academic lyceum when students are studying on different educational trajectories, how to form variable groups?
- How to effectively organise career guidance for students in grade 9/10 and help them make a conscious choice of educational trajectory?
These results will form the basis for piloting the reform. Most of the ambassador lyceums already have experience in specialised education and have completed a certified programme for educational managers created by the educational project ‘ZMIST’ of the savED charity foundation in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
“Two years ago, our team created a curriculum for the Zhytomyr Lyceum, which was destroyed by a Russian missile. At that time, we not only rethought the content of the subjects, but also built the curriculum and strategic development of the institution. This experience, along with our sincere belief in the reform, inspires us to continue creating practical solutions, including ready-made model programmes for teachers as part of the ZMIST project. Because we know how important it is to have support,” says Anastasia Onatii, Head of Education Programmes and Analytics at SavED.
We would like to remind you that the public discussion of the draft Model Educational Programme for a Senior Specialist School has recently ended. The results of the public discussion will be published on 14 May. Starting from 1 September 2025, 30 reform ambassador lyceums will pilot approaches to the organisation of the educational process.
