Finland to help reform Ukrainian schools

Finland will help Ukraine improve teachers' qualifications, highlight the importance of education for society and improve the educational environment of schools as part of the New Ukrainian School project.

Ukraine and Finland agreed on such cooperation in an intergovernmental draft agreement on the implementation of the project "Finnish support for the reform of the Ukrainian school," which was approved at a Cabinet of Ministers meeting on February 28, 2018, the press service of the Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry reported.

"The draft agreement will have an estimated cost of six million euros. It is designed for four years. These funds will be used to support reform in the area where Finland is the strongest, in particular, in educating teachers. Our teachers need new tools for communication and education of modern children," Ukrainian Education and Science Minister Lilia Hrynevych said.

According to her, the ministry highly appreciates assistance from Finland, which is one of the world leaders in the quality of secondary education.

The Cabinet of Ministers also entrusted the education and science minister with signing the agreement. After it is signed, the document should also be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

"It is very important that all bureaucratic procedures for the entry into force of this agreement be made as soon as possible, as we are very much counting on the support of Finland as part of the reform. In particular, it would be good if all procedures were passed in the next few months," Hrynevych said.

Finland is a reliable partner of Ukraine. After the Revolution of Dignity, Finland increased the amount of aid to the country. Over the past three years, the amount of humanitarian and technical assistance to Ukraine has reached EUR 28.7 million. Finland supports legislative, economic and energy reform through the Council of the European Union, the EBRD, the World Bank and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation.

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