The EWC Schools for Democracy in Ukraine should be expanded to include out-of-school education, vocational training and work with students at pedagogical universities in Ukraine.
That is one of the recommendations in the recent mid-term evaluation of EWC’s Schools for Democracy Programme, carried out by researchers at OsloMet’s Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research NIBR.
Such an expansion would mean that the programme would cover all levels in the Ukrainian educational circle. The evaluators further recommend including people from the local administration responsible for education as target groups to enhance the cooperation between educational institutions and local authorities.
Reached its objectives
The overall conclusion is that Schools for Democracy has been able to achieve its objectives, despite the dramatic change in working conditions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The programme has demonstrated its relevance and effectiveness through flexible decision-making, remaining closely linked to Ukraine’s reform policies. Despite the full-scale invasion, most planned activities were implemented and several new initiatives were launched as emergency response.
One example of flexibility is the un-planned focus on psychological support to teachers. As one teacher noted:
It’s challenging to continue showing kindness to children when our loved ones are dying on the front lines.
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Resilience of education
The programme’s work under martial law has strengthened social bonds among all participants and contributed to the resilience of Ukraine’s educational system during this tense period.
We don’t need to retrain teachers; we need to train them correctly, which is why working with future teachers at university is crucial.
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Although the evaluators point to a possible expansion of the programme, they also emphasize the need to build further on its existing strengths. If the programme continues in a new phase after 2024, they recommend that most of the current activities are continued:
“This helps making the “critical mass” of “agents of change”. Continuing with more or less the same programme activities as before, of course, may be perceived as lacking in innovation, but continuity of (the most successful) activities strengthens sustainability over time”
Children feel freer, they are more united, collaborate well, express their needs and emotions more, and have learned to understand themselves and others better.
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As for the programme’s raison d’être, the evaluators are crystal clear:
“In many ways, the war has made the promotion of democracy even more important. For Ukraine, strengthening democratic practices of participation, equal access to voice and deliberation is vital. First, it is important for building resilience against authoritarian influences. Second, because stronger democratic norms and practices are part of Ukraine’s alignment with the EU. Thirdly, the programme supports reform efforts to make the local school the centre of the local community. As such, schools can play an important role in rebuilding Ukraine and strengthening social cohesion at the local level.”
Background
The European Wergeland Centre has been working in Ukraine since 2013. Schools for Democracy Programme has contributed to development and implementation of democratic reforms in education and youth work since the Revolution of Dignity . Over 134 000 teachers were trained to foster democratic competences of students so far, the programme has helped introduce democratic changes in over 400 schools and provided mentorship support for teaching democracy and participation in kindergartens. The Programme is implemented by the EWC in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Center of Education Initiatives (Lviv), Step by Step Foundation Ukraine (Kyiv), and SavED (Kyiv) and is part of Norway’s Nansen Programme for Ukraine.