On 22 September, Kyiv hosted the National Forum «The Future We Choose!» organised by the Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The event brought together more than 300 participants – representatives of the Ukrainian and Swiss governments, the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, regional military administrations and communities, educational institutions, the business sector, international partners, experts, community careers coordinators and school careers counsellors, as well as students from different regions of Ukraine.

The Forum focused on the results of the first year of the national pilot project on the career guidance system for children and young people, and on the next steps for developing the career guidance system at national, regional, and local levels. Special attention was paid to the role of communities in this system and to how careers guidance can help young people identify opportunities for education, professional development, and future employment in their own communities and regions.

Participants in the event included:

• Andrii Butenko, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;
• Vitalii Bezgin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine;
• Jacques Gerber, Swiss Federal Council Delegate for Ukraine;
• Jean-Luc Bernasconi, Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine;
• Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager;
• Oleh Hryhorov, Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration;
• Dmytro Zavhorodnii, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalisation;
• Anastasiia Konovalova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;
• Zhanna Osipenko, Deputy Head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration;
• Tetiana Lomakina, Advisor – Presidential Commissioner for Barrier-Free Environment;
• Dmytro Kysylevskyi, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development;
• Olha Koval, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Chair of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Education, Science and Innovation;
• Bohdan Kytsak, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Chair of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Economic Development;
• Anton Hrushetskyi, Executive Director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS);
• Nadiia Balabust, DECIDE National Expert, Coordinator of Development of Career Guidance System.

Andrii Butenko, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, emphasised the importance of providing systematic support to children and adolescents in choosing their future educational and professional path.

‘We want every child to have someone by their side who will help them better understand themselves, recognise their strengths and potential, and guide them in choosing who they might become. It is important not to decide for the child which path they should take, but to give them the opportunity to make this choice independently and consciously. I am grateful to the Swiss Government and DECIDE Project for their unprecedented support in developing the career guidance system and for the opportunity to work with students in Grades 8–9 today and to build this system together,’ remarked Andrii Butenko, Minister of Education and Science.

Support for career guidance is also one of the areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Switzerland in education sector.

‘For Switzerland, support for education is an investment in Ukraine’s future. Today’s schoolchildren will, in a few years’ time, be the ones who will develop communities, set up businesses, and work in medicine, education, technology, and other sectors essential for the country’s recovery. Therefore, it is important not to dictate to young people what they should become, but to create conditions in which they can see opportunities, develop their abilities, and find their own place in future Ukraine,’ stated Jacques Gerber, Swiss Federal Council Delegate for Ukraine.

Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager, spoke about the first results of the pilot project.

‘During the first year of the pilot project, more than 61,000 schoolchildren in Grades 8-9 participated in career guidance activities, and nearly 3,000 businesses, institutions, and organisations became partners. This year, the pilot project already brings together over 500 communities in 24 regions of Ukraine — from frontline and border territories to communities and regions that are recovering. And everywhere there is a shared aspiration — for children to see their future right here, in their own community, their own region, in Ukraine. I would like to thank our partners in the regions and communities, as well as educational institutions and businesses, for these two years of joint work. We all understand more and more clearly that the future of young people is the responsibility not only of the education sector, but of society as a whole. Our shared task is to create opportunities for young people so that they want to build their future right here in Ukraine,’ emphasised Valentyna Poltorak, DECIDE Project Manager.

Vitalii Bezgin, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, emphasised the importance of the role of communities in creating opportunities for young people and developing the local economy.

‘Today, the issue of young people for communities is not just about education or youth policy anymore. It is a question of demographics, the local economy and the future capacity of these territories. Communities can systematically bring together young people, schools, vocational education institutions, and local employers. If a community is planning a new production facility, industrial park, tourism development or attraction of investment, it must start thinking today about who will be working there in five or ten years’ time. Therefore, our task is not just to keep young people here, but to create opportunities for them,’ said Vitalii Bezgin.

The Forum also presented the results of a national sociological survey on the educational and career expectations of children and teenagers “The Future We Choose!” which involved nearly 387,000 respondents.

Four dialogue platforms worked during the Forum: a government platform, a regional platform, a youth platform, and a platform dedicated to equal opportunities in the career guidance of children and adolescents, particularly those with special educational needs.

Representatives from authorities, communities, educational institutions, the business sector, and international partners discussed the cooperation between the education sector and employers, the development of careers guidance at regional and community level, and equal access for children to relevant opportunities. The students themselves played a key role in this discussion, sharing their own experiences and talking about what helps them decide on their future.

The next stage will be the nationwide implementation of the career guidance system: in particular, the training of specialists who will work directly with students in schools – career guidance counsellors. In cooperation with Zurich University of Teacher Education – International, training is already underway for mentors who will later join in the training of 15,000 career education counsellors to work with students in Grades 7–9 in all schools across Ukraine.

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