UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

04/28/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/28/2023 03:16

Education in Ukraine: UNESCO mobilizes US$12 million to step up its action on the ground

UNESCO is scaling up its programs to support the education system in Ukraine through new funding of US$ 12.15 million from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

This grant will be dedicated to expand the development of distance learning tools and psychosocial support in schools directly benefitting more than 66,800 children and education actors. UNESCO will implement these actions in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as well as other national and local stakeholders.

Since the first day of the war, UNESCO has deployed emergency measures on the ground to respond to the needs of the Ukrainian population. This new funding will allow us to act on a larger scale for the recovery of education.
Stefania GianniniUNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education

Action in four areas

UNESCO will support the Ukrainian education system in four areas:

  • Provide conflict-affected girls and boys with devices to continue learning.
  • Integrate psychosocial support and socioemotional learning provisions into the education system.
  • Give teachers access to continuous professional development in innovative and crisis-responsive pedagogical skills.
  • Support education planning, management and learning through sector-wide and integrated data systems.

These four areas of action have been identified based on the priorities of the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as building on the progress achieved to date in supporting the education community in Ukraine.

Building on progress to date

Since the beginning of the war, UNESCO has been mobilized in Ukraine to protect the right to inclusive and equitable quality education. Between October 2022 and January 2023, UNESCO facilitated the delivery of 50,528 Chromebooks donated by Google to teachers in need in 25 regions of Ukraine. As a follow up and with the support of Google.org, UNESCO is training 50,000 teachers on digital pedagogy.

Since May 2022, UNESCO has also supported the National Program for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) led by the First Lady of Ukraine, assisting the Ministry of Education in Science in the transformation of the MHPSS system in the Education sector, with funding from Japan. Under this initiative, UNESCO is training 15,000 school psychologists, building capacity for 20,000 school personnel, parents, and caretakers, and reaching 160,000 vulnerable children with MHPSS services.

UNESCO also mobilized its Global Education Coalition, where 25 members provided resources to Ukraine including computers for teachers, scholarships for learners, free access to accredited courses and education platforms, and translation of educational resources.