On March 24, 2020 the presentation of the Report on assessment of training needs: development of curricula on social rights in Ukraine conducted in 2020-2021 within the Project “Promoting Social Human Rights as a Key Factor of Sustainable Democracy in Ukraine” (the Project) was held.
]The event was attended by over 40 participants: representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, academia, civil society and experts.
“Significant number of representatives of various target categories was interviewed for the first time in Ukraine. As a result, conclusions and recommendations were provided on what exactly needs to be done in order to facilitate the high-quality and modern curricula development based on the European standards. Special focus on the European Social Charter and case-law of the European Committee of Social Rights shall be promoted engaging public authorities, the Cabinet of Ministers and relevant ministries along with academia”, said in her welcoming speech Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
The expert team, which consisted of international expert of the Project Mr Armen Mazmanyan and national expert of the Project Ms Alla Fedorova, conducted a study of regulatory requirements, teaching standards and curricula in Ukrainian higher education institutions. They also prepared a comparative analysis of the Ukrainian models and experiences vis-à-vis leading European universities, and held a series of meetings with representatives of higher education institutions and students.
“This needs assessment will provide data and baseline information for further Project’s activities and show in which direction we can move in strengthening the level of knowledge about social rights in Ukraine. This is a unique opportunity to conduct needs assessments with educational institutions in order to include social rights curricula in the educational institutions”, said Ms Margarita Galstyan, Project Manager of the Department of the European Social Charter, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe.
Expert team presented recommendations on integration of the study of the European Social Charter into the curricula of higher education institutions for consideration by public authorities in Ukraine, higher education institutions, professional public associations and civil society.
“Our report will improve the situation, both with teaching the social rights as guaranteed by the European Social Charter, and with the ensuring of these rights in Ukraine in general. Our research will provide an opportunity to review the place of the European Social Charter in the curricula that already exist, and allow us to expand and launch such curricula in the future”, said Ms Alla Fedorova.
Participants discussed the Report and recommendations to it. The following recommendations are provided among others in the Report:
- A comprehensive awareness raising campaign on the European Social Charter
- Translation of the case-law of the Committee into Ukrainian
- ESC-related questions in the Unified Admission Test for admission to master’s programme in Law and/or International Law
- Comprehensive revision of HEI curricula on social rights and related subjects aiming at including ESC and ECSR case-law
- ToT programmes
- Pilot specialised course on the ESC
- Extra-curricular instruction and extension programmes
- Moot Court competitions on the ESC
- Summer/Winter School for law students on the subject concerned
- Development of the training programmes for practitioners
Ms Siuzanna Mnatsakanian, Senior Project Officer of the Council of Europe Project "Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine", reported on the steps already taken within the Project to implement these recommendations and upcoming plans. Further activities planned include: training for trainers who will teach programmes on the European Social Charter, a special course for law students, a summer school on European Social Charter and the case-law of the European Committee of Social Rights, as well as presentation of the training programmes for judges and lawyers.
The Report on Assessment of training needs: development of curricula on social rights in Ukraine is available here.
