Summit of Progressive and Strong Educators 2024: Transforming education through the crisis

For the third year in a row, in early December, NGO Progressive and Strong gathered at the Summit to summarise the results of the year. However, each time the Summit turns into a festive event, because it is an opportunity to meet live, hug and talk to education activists from different parts of our long-suffering country. In times of uncertainty, the greatest value is to see each other again!

Once again, we would like to thank the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for the support, without which this event — the Progressive and Strong Educators Summit 2024 — would not have taken place. And each time the scale of the event is impressive. Thus, on 7 December, 11 speakers spoke, educators from 50 different educational institutions arrived, about 200 participants were present in the hall and more than 300 participants joined the event online.

Bohdan FERENS, the permanent head of the NGO Progressive and Strong, was the first to speak with a welcoming speech. He outlined the plan and set the tone for the event, suggesting that as an energiser, we take a selfie with our neighbours to the right and left and get to know each other in this way. And then they proceeded to watch a video of the progressives and strong’s activities over the year.

Felix HETT, Director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Representation in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, welcomed all those present. It was this Foundation that first believed in the idea of the Progressive Teacher Platform, which later grew into a progressive movement of educators.

MEP Marcos ROS SEMPERE sent a video greeting to the Summit participants and assured them of financial support for Ukraine's regions until 2027.

Bohdan FERENS highlighted a number of other important issues. In particular, that it is becoming more and more difficult to fight for attention to Ukraine in the international political arena every day. He also said that one of the most pressing issues is the level of remuneration of teachers in all educational institutions, from kindergartens to universities. In some places, the figure is UAH 7000-8000 (160-180 EUR) per month. How can this be? Unfortunately, it is not possible to reach them through appeals and letters. Therefore, it is worth advocating this issue to the European missions and advocating for the priority of funding education, in particular, in terms of salaries.

The Coordinating Council of the NGO Progressive and Strong presented the achievements for 2024. Liudmyla KORNUTA emphasized that despite all the challenges associated with constant air raids, power outages, and tightening of the school schedule, the educational community continues to create various events and joint activities together.

Ievgeniia SHELEST shared the achievements of the Isles of Progress, which are now represented not only in Ukraine but also abroad and hopes that in the future they will turn into a real archipelago. The initiative was launched in June 2023, and by the end of the year there were already 30 islands; by the end of 2024, there were already 60. In terms of numbers, 677 participants, 99 educational institutions, and 17 speakers have joined the Progressive and Strong Teaching: Intensive from the Islands initiative. The leaders in terms of activity are the following Isles: Kherson National Technical University; Odesa Teacher’s Training Professional College; National University ‘Odesa Law Academy’; Western Ukrainian National University; Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture; Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman.

Nataliia SHEVCHENKO spoke about three professional development courses, as well as other activities that the team of the Online Events and Trainings for Educators team is responsible for, which is the hallmark of Progressive and Strong.

Tetiana KONOVALENKO stressed the importance of supporting IDP teachers and international partnerships. Today our partners: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, GMF, Cegos, Glocalshift, UNIСEF, and British trade unions. Tetiana also spoke about a new partnership with World Class Scholars.

However, Progressive and Strong also has partnerships with Ukrainian organisations: Legal Design Laboratory, Ukrainian Academy of Mediation, Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine. This is what Liudmyla KORNUTA spoke about.

Co-coordinator of the Communication Department Kostiantyn PALSHKOV called on people to join Progressive and Strong in various social networks, in particular, to activate their subscriptions to Linkedin to expand international relations.

The open microphone ‘What do they not talk about at the Marathon?’ revealed an interesting fact: educators do not watch television, so they are not very aware of what is or is not discussed at the Marathon. However, online participants from Kharkiv, Lutsk, Odesa and Kamianske Dnipro region, joined the discussion. Thus, the geography of participants was represented by all regions of Ukraine.

Before the public discussion, the audience was asked to identify the top two key problems in Ukrainian education, and then the results of the all-Ukrainian survey ‘How to make life easier for teachers?’ were presented. Thus, 64% of respondents complain about financial instability and low salaries; the same percentage suffers from emotional burnout and psychological stress. Financial support and additional payments are needed by as many as 70%, and work-life balance by 75%. Among those surveyed, 54% are seeking international internships and experience exchange, and 80% of respondents expressed their readiness to contribute to Ukraine's recovery as active educators. It turned out that the key problems fully coincide with those voiced in the audience and noted in the survey.

The public discussion ‘Education under threat: how to find balance and equilibrium?’ was joined by many speakers, namely: Oleksandr KHYMENKO, Head of the Secretariat of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education; Dmytro LIAKH, Deputy Head of the National Qualifications Agency; Viktor YEVDOKYMOV, Rector of the State University ‘Zhytomyr Polytechnic’; Alisa SUKHIKH, Deputy Head of the Council of Young Scientists; Andrii SIDLIARENKO, Advisor to the Rector of the Kyiv School of Economics; Kyrylo DEMCHENKO, Supervisor of the Student Expert Council, co-founder of the Ukrainian Student League; Serhii ROMANIUK, representative of the Trade Union of Educators; Anatolii IHNATOVYCH, representative of UNIСEF.

The question ‘Do you feel that Ukrainian education is currently in crisis?’ provoked a rather heated and emotional discussion. The speakers agreed that not only is education in crisis, but there is also a ‘window of opportunity’ in the crisis that needs to be developed. They also noted the losses that education is suffering due to the full-scale invasion. This includes the physical destruction of educational institutions, the relocation of educators to safe regions or other countries, and the demographic crisis that began long before the war. The rector of Zhytomyr Polytechnic noted that education and a strong state should be linked with an equal sign. Andrii SIDLIARENKO'S thesis that ‘education is based on people and people should be the first priority’ resonates strongly.

Participants from the audience also joined the comments, believing that it is first necessary to define the concepts of what a crisis is, and raised several problematic issues they face in their daily practice, including the level of wages, the outflow of young people and low student motivation to study.

‘Overcoming Educational Losses through Cooperation: What is the Role of International Partners?’ was the title of the second panel discussion, or ‘Opportunity Panel’ as Bohdan FERENS called it.

The discussion started with an energiser from Nataliia SHEVCHENKO and a survey on the quality of higher education from 0 to 10 points. The overwhelming majority rated the quality of modern education at 5 points.

They discussed how international projects can help overcome educational challenges. Phil NOBLE, one of the leading experts on the use of the Internet in the public sector in politics, media, government and public affairs, joined the discussion. Phil presented the free online platform of the world-famous World Class Scholars organisation, with which the NGO Progressive and Strong is launching a partnership project. He also highlighted how this platform can be useful for teachers, students, and parents and how it can be adapted to Ukrainian realities.

Svitlana SHYTIKOVA, Erasmus+UA project coordinator, began the presentation of Erasmus+ opportunities with a question to the audience: ‘Why are you here and your colleagues are not?’. Svitlana assured that today the project has unprecedented opportunities for Ukrainian educators, including additional salaries, which were discussed so much during the event, and opportunities for professional development, and assured that all these opportunities are in our hands.

Anatolii IHNATOVYCH, UNICEF South representative, shared the security map by region and the implementation of projects to make up for educational losses among school students. He also highlighted the results of research on online education, which proved that offline learning yields significantly better results.

Artem SHAIPOV, USAID Justice for All Program Legal Advisor, stressed the importance of Ukrainian educators reaching out to their foreign counterparts to establish partnerships, as this is an open window of opportunity for Ukraine.

Marshall MAYER, co-founder and executive director of Ukraine Aid International, joined the discussion online and spoke briefly about programmes to support children in the East. Bogdan SHESTOPALOV, Chief Operating Officer of Ukraine Aid International, shared an interesting experience of uniting the sister cities of Donetsk Oblast with American cities. Residents of American sister cities help raise funds for Ukrainian children to go to camps, which gives Ukrainian citizens the belief that they are remembered. Children from Ukrainian and American cities also exchange contacts for communication.

Despite the significant opportunities that have been voiced, Summit participants also noted a few reasons why they cannot take advantage of them. The main ones include lack of time, a heavy study load and language barriers.

This year, there were many opportunities to participate in the drawing of branded gifts from Progressive and Strong. Our activists are among the lucky ones who won: Iryna DOROSHENKO, Yulіia NOSKO, Viktoriia ILCHENKO, and Olena HUBAR.

The final part of the first day was devoted to how to move forward with Progressive and Strong and about membership, the team and plans for 2025.

Thus, in 2024, the NGO Progressive and Strong has 1115 members. A joint decision was made not to make fixed membership fees, but to approve a minimum amount of UAH 200 for 2025. The plan for 2025 was approved, namely: presenting an education development plan; expanding international presence and presence in government agencies; supporting vocational education, IDP educators and Isles of Progress; opening a direct work with teachers; continuing professional development of educators; prioritising education and supporting educators.

Participants made various suggestions for plans for 2025. For example, Igor LYMAN jokingly suggested getting a tattoo as a sign of involvement in the organisation, and Viktoriia ILCHENKO suggested wearing a badge.

Finally, memorandums were signed to establish Isles of Progress in three more educational institutions: The University of Transformation of the Future (Chernihiv), Gymnasium No. 110 in Kyiv, and Zaporizhzhia Classical Lyceum.

What about certificates? Of course, amidst thunderous applause, everyone in the room received their personalised certificate and a wish to do everything possible to improve the quality of education. The coordination team awarded Bohdan FERENS with a diploma for his significant contribution to the development of the NGO Progressive and Strong.

A joint photo and a saxophone dinner were a pleasant end to the Progressive and Strong Educators Summit.

The second day, or the ‘light version’ of the Summit, was dedicated to the effective interaction of the Progressive and Strong activists and consisted of two working parts. However, no work on Sunday morning is possible without the concentration of all participants. Therefore, Oksana CHUB led the ‘Wind Blowing’ exercise, and the participants imitated the movements of trees, which added a boost of vigour and positive energy.

We started working on the strategy for 2025. We worked in teams in priority areas: communication, fundraising, HR and online. The South was singled out as a separate area, with activists from the regions involved. To optimise the work of the teams, all the developments were immediately included in a common document, which allowed us to consider everyone's thoughts and ideas.

The second part of the joint activity was aimed at finding possible ways to develop the Isles of Progress. To this end, the teams were reformatted in the following areas: higher education institutions, vocational pre-higher education institutions, and general education.

It is worth noting that the number of representatives of higher education institutions is currently the largest. Therefore, one of the priorities of the NGO is to expand the Isles of Progress in higher education institutions and to involve more teachers and students in the Progressive and Strong movement.

Based on the results of the Summit, the priorities include presenting the education development programme of the Progressive and Strong NGO at the international level and at the level of Ukrainian state institutions.

Important areas of work include support for displaced teachers, professional development of educators, online and offline events to promote Ukrainian education, scaling up the Isles of Progress, and strengthening communication. To implement the ambitious plans, we identified the need to attract grant and international support.

Strategic decisions today are the success of progressive education tomorrow!

We are also happy to share great photos from the event! You can download the photo here