Mondo support access to quality education in Ukraine

In every crisis, education comes under attack. Mondo is working in Ukraine to ensure that children have access to quality education both during the war and in the future. Over the past three years, more than 5300 teachers and over 11 150 students have participated in Mondo’s trainings and camps. Activities have involved directly 120 school communities from eight oblasts. Additionally, we have restored two school buildings.

“Months, or in the worst case, years without access to education for children and youth have painful consequences for the whole society. It can lead to school dropouts, disengagement, and worsen negative coping mechanisms. To prevent the emergence of “lost generations” in Ukraine, access to school education must be prioritized even in the acute phases of war,” said Mondo’s board member Triinu Ossinovski.

Mondo started working in Ukraine in 2014 and prior to the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Mondo worked in development cooperation and humanitarian aid sectors in Eastern Ukraine, mainly in Luhansk oblast. The primary focus was on education, digital competences and democratic development. In Luhansk oblast we worked with a school network, with which we covered over 40 schools with teacher training, equipment supply, curriculum development etc. Most of our activities were funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.

Since 24th of February in 2022, we have adopted a multi-cluster approach and extended our activities across Ukraine (including Zhytomyr oblast). Education and education in emergencies (EIE) has remained one of our key areas of work.

Over the past three years, Mondo has provided more than 11 150 children with extracurricular activities, psychological support, and assistance in bridging learning gaps. A notable example is summer camp “Easy Camp”, whose sustainability has been ensured through collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science and local governments. More than 5300 teachers have participated in training on digital competencies and mental health support (MHPSS) to enable quality online and hybrid teaching.

Mondo continues to support quality education in Ukraine in diverse ways, with a particular focus on enhancing teachers’ digital skills and mental health. For example, a project in the Zhytomyr oblast, conducted in collaboration with the Estonian educational startup Clanbeat, will be completed by the end of this year to provide targeted mental health support to schools. Mondo is also supporting Ukraine in the reform of vocational education and training (VET) curricula and teaching skills.

Here is an overview of Mondo’s activities in the field of education since 2022.

• Mondo supported reconstruction of two schools. Mykolaivska Gymnasium number 7, and Khortytsia National Educational and Rehabilitation Academy in Zaporizhzhya were targets of Russian missile attacks and needed repair. (Funded by MFA humanitarian fund).
• We have supported extracurricular activities’ and psychological support hubs and summer camps for over 4000 children with IDP backgrounds or residing in areas more heavily affected by the full-scale war. These activities have taken place in Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovska, Chernihiv, Sumõ and Lviv oblasts. (Funded mainly by private donations from Estonia + MFA humanitarian fund).
• “Shkolu-Vgoru” project funded by OCHA-UHF we aimed at improving the wellbeing and ensuring continuous access to quality education for at least 7000 school-aged children (6-17 years) in 35 schools in 5 oblasts in Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Luhansk oblasts) through increasing the capacity of schools to provide counseling to children and improving teachers’ digital competences. The project was implemented in collaboration with local partners.
• In support of online/blended learning, Mondo has organized Digital Competencies and MHPSS trainings (24-32h trainings) for over 4000 teachers and school psychologists in 7 oblasts in Ukraine (Zhytomyrska, Zaporizhska, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovska, Lviv, Chernihiv, and Luhansk (displaced). (Funded by EstDev and OCHA-UHF).
• In support of the efforts of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MoES) to provide children from vulnerable backgrounds with devices for online/blended learning, Mondo has procured 558 Chromebook licenses to promote safe and transparent use of these devices. (Funded by private donations).

Current activities in the field of education:

• With EstDev funding we are currently carrying out a project to improve the level of digital literacy among school teachers and local education officials in the Zhytomyr and Chernihiv oblasts. We target 14 local authorities and 5% of schools in both oblasts, covering a total of 60 schools. Through the training programmes, we will improve the digital skills of a total of 1320 teachers, which are key to providing high quality hybrid and online learning and catch-up learning, especially for children who have fallen behind due to the war. And a pilot digital competences programme is developed for local government officials to prepare 28 education officials to lead innovative education reforms in the Zhytomyr and Chernihiv oblasts. Fifteen local educators and officials will also participate in a study visit to Estonia in 2025. The project will conclude in 2025 with a conference on modern teacher skills, bringing together all project participants and featuring keynote speeches by education experts from both Ukraine and Estonia. This project is closely connected to the New Ukrainian School Reform.
• In parallel Mondo is conducting a project together with an Estonian start-up Clanbeat funded by EstDev. The project aims to introduce and pilot a mental well-being mapping and support solution developed by Clanbeat in 25 schools in Zhytomyr oblast. The solution will allow students and educators to promptly assess their mental well-being status and, based on the results, they will be able to get feedback and references to identify appropriate measures to support their mental health. The solution is based on holistic processes that have been worked out and tested in Estonian schools, designed to compensate for the limited capacity of local schools to support the mental well-being of their students and staff, promote overcoming the stigmas and increase the access to local mental health resources and services. The project’s action plan encompasses the adaptation of the Estonian solution to the Ukrainian context and the mapping of relevant mental health support services catering to the youth and adults in Zhytomyr oblast.
• In summer 2024 we organized multiple 10-day catch-up learning camps in Zakarpattia oblast where 150 7th grade students from Zaporizhia oblast received in-person catch-up education in three core academic disciplines – Ukrainian language and literature, mathematics, and history. All the participants had developed severe learning caps due to the war in the region. The sustainability of this approach is ensured through collaboration with the MoES of Ukraine and local municipalities who have potential for further wider application of the catch-up summer camps approach. Mondo was piloting this approach for the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. In October 2024 we will present the outcomes and lessons learnt to the Ministry. (Funded by MFA humanitarian fund).

Upcoming activities:

• In December 2024 Mondo will start country-wide Skills4Recovery project led by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – German Development Cooperation) and implemented jointly with the Solidarity Fund PL (Poland) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Ministry of Economy. Total budget is 14 million euros, partly funded also by EstDev. The overall objective of the Action is to support Ukraine in its EU membership path and im- plementation of the AA/DCFTA while strengthening its resilience and capacity to respond to the impacts generated by Russia’s war of aggression. The aim is that qualified workforce is available for the recovery of the Ukrainian economy. Project will focus on reforming curriculums and teaching skills of 45 VET providers (Vocational Education and Training providers) across Ukraine. Mondo’s role is to provide digital competence trainings for the VET teachers and school managers from 45 VET providers and in addition invite 3 groups of educators (36 in total) to the study visits to Estonia. Another component Mondo is responsible for is to develop Ukraine’s first Educational Technology curriculum. The aim is to support the sustainability of digital competences in teacher training and wider transformation through that in the education system. Plan is to initiate collaboration between the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Tartu and one university and two pedagogical colleges from Zhytomyr oblast (Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University, Korostyshiv Ivan Franko Pedagogical Specialized College, Berdychiv Pedagogical College). Working group will be formed with experts from these institutions. We intend to improve the quality of Educational Technology education in Zhytomyr oblast and facilitate inclusion of this topic into [higher] pedagogical education curricula, as well as dissemination of Estonian best practices in the field of Educational Technology.