On 21 August 2018 in Kyiv, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine gathered the key actors in education sphere for the Conference to launch the New Ukrainian School Reform: teachers, psychologists, representatives of central authorities and local self-government, civil society, academia, international organisations, as well as members of the parliament. The Conference was supported by the Council of Europe and contributed towards the implementation of its projects in Ukraine in the field of the protection of national minorities, and education.

Mr. Mårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine underlined the important role of the Council of Europe in following some encouraging developments in the reform of the education system in Ukraine, which resulted in the adoption of the New Ukrainian School. He stressed that the Council of Europe strongly believes in the need to promote linguistic diversity and plurilingualism and has developed important tools and standards to help member states to develop transparent and coherent language policies. One of the goals of this educational reform has been the improvement of the teaching of the Ukrainian language, especially in the education of national minorities, the need for which is recognised by both the authorities and the minorities. It is crucial that the right balance between education in the state language and in the minority language be found.

In this context, the Ukrainian authorities sought the advice of the Council of Europe, first by requesting an Opinion of the Venice Commission on Article 7 of the Law on Education and through expert advice received on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, of which Ukraine is a State Party. As required by these two instruments, decisions on matters concerning the national minorities must be taken in consultation with their representatives. Only this way a truly inclusive Ukrainian society can be built..

He also mentioned that the sectorial decentralisation in education sphere is crucial for local governments and for their citizens, as it is one of the most expensive and vital services provided at the local level. The challenges which Ukraine faces include: the need for optimisation of the network of educational institutions, the improvement of facilities and modernisation of teaching equipment, the support to the new amalgamated communities in becoming effective education service provision managers, the attraction of young professionals to teaching jobs, the modernisation of curricula etc.

The New Ukrainian School identifies the competences that should be taught throughout the education system in order to equip young people with the values, attitudes, skills and knowledge they need in order to participate actively in the life of Ukrainian society.

More than 800 participants took part in the conference that created a solid platform for discussing the mechanisms and the perspectives of the New Ukrainian School Reform. The event has alsocreated grounds for future cooperation between all stakeholders and international partners in the education sphere.