ALL-UKRAINIAN EDUCATIONAL FORUM “NEW DIMENSIONS OF SECURITY: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS” WAS HELD (TERNOPIL, NOVEMBER 16-17, 2022)

On November 16-17, 2022, the All-Ukrainian educational forum “New dimensions of security: challenges and solutions” was held and chaired by the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhiy Shkarlet. The event was held on the premises of the Western Ukrainian National University in Ternopil.

The topics of the forum covered a wide range of issues related to the activity of educational institutions during the war, namely:

  • psychological support of the participants of the educational process;
  • safe conditions for learning;
  • challenges during the organization of distance education;
  • informational and analytical aspects of education security under martial law.

Also, the forum was organized within the following three sections: united for safety, psychological safety and safe conditions for learning, where a wide range of relevant issues was discussed, in particular, the creation of a safe educational environment and the provision of educational services under the martial law, the equipping of shelters in the educational institutions, national-patriotic education as a component of security, UNICEF partnership in creating safe conditions for learning, psychological help and emotional support, usage of Internet services and digital tools, cyber security in wartime, European integration, etc.

The forum was attended by the upper management of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the authorized adviser to the President of Ukraine on the issues of the Foundation of the President of Ukraine for the support of education, science and sports and the head of the Foundation, representatives of the State Emergency Service, people’s deputies, international partners of the MoES, scientists and educators from all regions of Ukraine. The total number of forum participants reached more than three hundred people. From the SSI “Institute of Educational Analytics”, the event was attended by the Director,  Doctor of Economics, Professor Sergiy Londar and the Deputy Director for Scientific and Organizational Work, PhD in Economics, Senior Researcher Hanna Tereshchenko.

The forum was opened by the principal speakers of the event, Sergiy Shkarlet – the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Volodymyr Trush – the head of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration, Sergiy Nadal – the Ternopil City Mayor.

The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Sergiy Shkarlet, greeted the participants of the forum and noted that “Armed aggression of the russian federation has emphasized the issue of security even more. But despite the constant attacks of the occupants, we maintain the educational process, and with joint efforts, we overcome all the challenges that arise before us. Educators, who from the first hours of the war demonstrated unity, indomitability and stability, consider the fulfillment of a simple formula as their primary goal: “Educational institution is a territory of safety”. In his speech, the Minister announced the creation of the Concept of a safe educational institution with the aim of ensuring an effective offline educational process: “It is expected that educational institutions, thanks to the implementation of this Concept, will be equipped with a complex of alarm warning (CAW) connected to the centers of centralized observation and response, systems of external and internal video surveillance, stationary metal detectors and necessary fences”. In the end, Sergiy Shkarlet summarized: “I am convinced that the exchange of opinions and experiences of all participants of the forum will allow us to clearly define the priority directions, to divide the areas of responsibility so that every educational institution in Ukraine is a territory of safety”.

During her speech, Hanna Tereshchenko spoke about information and analytical security of the educational environment under martial law.

She outlined the main challenges of the information and analytical component of educational security during the armed aggression of the russian federation and the implementation of martial law, including permanent cyber threats to educational information systems and databases in the form of hacker attacks (DDOS, fishing, SQL injection, etc.), high probability of physical destruction of computer equipment, servers, communication lines, etc., the complication of traditional gathering and processing of educational information due to active hostilities and the occupation of part of the territories of Ukraine, large-scale forced displacement of the participants of the educational process, massive destruction of educational infrastructure, changes of established channels of information gathering, etc. From the first days of the war, the SSI “Institute of Educational Analytics” took the necessary measures to secure the server equipment of the national information systems the SHC “AICOM” and the AS “IRC”, as well as strengthened the protection and integrity of information in these systems and became the information and analytical back-office of the digitization team of the MoES, effectively using available IT tools”.

The Solid Info thermal matrix was presented, which the specialists of the Institute adapted to the conditions of martial law, and the “Library of educational information resources“, which covered the most important primary sources, government educational documents, analytical materials for 2022, aimed to actively inform the participants of the educational process and to ensure information security of education. In addition, the attention of those present was drawn to access to other applied educational resources, which are successfully administered by the Institute along with national information systems. These are, in particular, the electronic platform “Znayimo” about healthy school meals and the implementation of the reform of the nutrition system in the educational institutions of Ukraine, which was launched by the first lady Olena Zelenska, as well as the distance learning platform “All-Ukrainian School Online”, which will soon be transferred under the administration of the Institute.

The presentation “Informational and analytical aspects of educational security under martial law” can be found here.

Photos of the Press Centre of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine