The first day of the All-Ukrainian Forum "Educational Leadership Days"

On June 10, the All-Ukrainian Forum “Days of Educational Leadership” was held, which brought together over 2,000 participants from all over Ukraine and abroad. This year we are gathering for the third time. Despite the war, to the sounds of air raid sirens, we traditionally choose development!

During the opening of the forum, welcoming remarks were made by the rector of the Zaporizhia Polytechnic National University Viktor Greshta, deputy chairman of the ZODA Mykhailo Semikin, chairman of the subcommittee on higher education of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovations Yulia Hryshyna, deputy minister of education and science of Ukraine Andriy Vitrenko, chairman of the National Qualifications Agency Yuriy Balanyuk, chairman of the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service Nataliya Alyushyna, deputy chairman of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education Ivan Nazarov, and chairman of the Sectoral Council for the Development of Professional Standards and Strategies for the Development of Professional Qualifications of the Federation of Metallurgists of Ukraine Olena Kolesnikova.

Discussion The forum platforms covered the most pressing issues in the field.

Platform 1 — University and Business: From Practice to Partnership. Participants discussed the projected challenges for HEIs, overcoming which universities will transform into technologically adapted, innovatively developed educational and scientific centers. This requires a comprehensive approach: interaction with the labor market, new tools for cooperation with business, implementation of dual education, joint inter-university programs, development of startup incubators and industry clusters.
The discussion was attended by rectors of leading Ukrainian universities, representatives of business and industry, in particular, the rector of the National University “Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic” Viktor Greshta, the rector of the National Technical University “Dnipro Polytechnic” Oleksandr Aziukovskyi, the rector of ONTU Larysa Ivanchenkova, the chairman of the Academic Council of the National University “Poltava Polytechnic named after Yuriy Kondratyuk” Volodymyr Onyshchenko, the rector of the KNUBA Oleksiy Dniprov, the vice-president of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andriy Kuts, the deputy director for scientific work of JSC “Ivchenko-Progress” Yuriy Torba, the CEO of Triada Welding Kyrylo Krasnoselskyi.

Platform 2 – Education through action: pro-sociality, projects, partnerships, influence. They talked about the university as a catalyst for social change, project-based education, open campuses, integration into the development of communities and regions. These topics were explored by leaders of university education, representatives of local authorities, NGOs and the city council: rector of Zaporizhia Polytechnic National University Viktor Greshta, rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Anatoliy Melnychenko, rector of DNU Serhiy Okovity, rector of MDPU Nataliya Falko, rector of PDTU Olena Khadzhinova, rector of KhNTU Olena Chepelyuk, rector of KhNU Serhiy Matyukh, acting rector of Mayor of Zaporizhzhia Regina Kharchenko, Deputy Coordinator of the Fundraising Department of the Progressive NGO Tatyana Konovalenko, and Director of the Zaporizhzhia City Development Institute Viktoriya Agentaeva.

The final block of the first day was the case session “From Idea to Result”. This part analyzed the best practices of academic and international partnerships, project histories, and examples of the transformation of displaced universities into resources for communities. There were strong speeches on the internationalization of front-line HEIs, in particular on the issues of adaptation and formation of new educational models in wartime conditions. DNU Rector Serhiy Okovity, PDTU Rector Olena Khadzhinova, and MDPU First Vice-Rector Natalia Glebova presented their cases.

Today, a university is about leadership, joint actions, modern projects, and responsibility for the future. Educators, students, community representatives and entrepreneurs – together we are changing education according to the needs of Ukraine!

The forum was held with the support of the National Agency for Education Quality Assurance, the National Qualifications Agency, the National Civil Service of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Association of Regional Employer Organizations of Metallurgical Complex Enterprises “Federation of Metallurgists of Ukraine”, the NGO “Progressilny” and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers) “Potential”.

Thank you to the participants and partners of the forum for your activity! Let’s build the future together.