The IX Congress of educators “Code of Resilience of Education of Donetsk Region”, that is an annual educational forum, was held in Kyiv on August 17, 18 and 21, 2023, at the University of Educational Management of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.

The purpose of this year’s event was to determine common ways for the restoration of the education system in Donetsk region in the post-war period, to establish unified approaches to the safety conditions of educational institutions’ functioning. Additionally, during the forum, best practices for supporting teachers and providing psychological assistance to educational participants were presented. An important part of the congress was the discussion of the achievements of the New Ukrainian School in the region during wartime. Furthermore, perspectives and key directions for education reform in the challenging present-day conditions were also discussed.

The program of the Congress of educators “Code of Resilience of Education of Donetsk Region” included discussions on the outlined topics within the following directions:

• Day 1 (August 17) – 2023/2024 school year: code of resilience ((congress plenary session, work of sections for educational leaders, educational institutions directors, centers of psychological and pedagogical support, comprehensive secondary schools, and pre-school education institutions), in-person format;
• Day 2 (August 18) – Day for Managers “Strategies for the Restoration of Education in Donetsk Region” (presentations by invited speakers), in-person format, and Forum “One Year of NUS – We Have Experience!” (presenting activities of pilot General Secondary Education Institutions implementing the State Standard of Basic Secondary Education), mixed format;
• Day 3 (August 21) – sessions for different categories of the pedagogical staff, closing of the Congress, web conference on the results of the IX Congress of Educators of Donetsk Region “Code of Resilience of Education of Donetsk Region”, remote format;
• August to December – functioning of the Virtual Educational Space “Code of Resilience of Education of Donetsk Region”.

The congress was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, and the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, as well as educational management authorities, directors, and educators from educational institutions, and other education professionals.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine for Secondary Education, Andriy Stashkiv, during his speech at the plenary session, expressed sincere gratitude to the educational community for their tireless work in the challenging conditions of martial law: “I thank you for the work you have have been over the past year when we practically didn’t know where we were going and what tomorrow would bring. I thank you for your work with the students who have gone abroad, for whom the school remains the bridge between Ukraine and the country they are in.” He also expressed hope that the theme of next year’s congress will focus on the resumption of full-time education throughout Donetsk region thanks to our joint efforts and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The State Scientific Institution “Institute of Educational Analytics” was represented by the Acting Director of the Institute, Doctor of Economics, Professor Sergiy Londar. He delivered a report on the topic: “Certain Indicators of the Education Sector in Donetsk Region for the 2022/2023 school year” as part of the expert section “Strategies for Restoring Education in Donetsk region”. In his speech, Sergiy Londar drew the attendees’ attention to the transformations in the information-analytical support for education management during the period of martial law. This included an analysis of various indicators, such as the number of destroyed and damaged educational institutions in Donetsk region, the level of staff and computer equipment in secondary schools, the needs of the front-line regions of Ukraine for additional school buses, the state of food organization, the distribution of educational subsidies, etc. He also outlined some priority areas of activity in the near future, including collecting administrative information from all regions of Ukraine to update the Dashboard indicators of educational institutions, updating data on the accrual of educational subvention funds, creating a “personnel reserve” module in the national information system of educational management, SHC “AICEM”, offsetting educational losses of Ukrainian schoolchildren, creating a database of Ukrainian schoolchildren who found themselves abroad as a result of the war.

Based on the results of the forum’s work, the Resolution of the IX Congress of Educators “Code of Resilience of Education in Donetsk Region” was prepared, which can be found at this link. Additional materials of the Congress are available on the website and YouTube channel of the Donetsk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education.