Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva participated in the panel discussion “International and educational activities of the International Ukrainian School: Supporting the Global Community of Ukrainians and Cultural Space Abroad” as part of the presentation of the Strategy for Development of the International Ukrainian School. The event was organized with the assistance of the Solomianski Kotyky Charitable Foundation and with the support of the USAID Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI). Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, educators, experts, and public figures attended the event.

Serhii Koleboshyn, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation; Andrii Stashkiv, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Andrii Shevchenko, Head of the Ukrainian World Congress Mission to Ukraine, and Oksana Lebedieva, founder of Gen.Ukrainian, joined the panel discussion.

Tamila Tasheva, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Ukrainian School, emphasized the importance of the law adopted in 2016 that allowed children from the temporarily occupied territories to enter Ukrainian universities and receive formal education. The Permanent Representative stressed that, despite the existing educational gap, it is essential to establish communication between Ukrainians abroad in the temporarily occupied and government-controlled territories through the academic component. She emphasized the need for such projects as the State Lyceum “International Ukrainian School,” Crimea-Ukraine, and “Donbas-Ukraine,” as they help students from the occupied territories to adapt to entering Ukrainian universities and preserve their Ukrainian identity:

“Based on the International Ukrainian School, educational standards will be developed for children in the de-occupied territories because, after de-occupation, the Ukrainian state will need to fully restore the institution of education,” Tamila Tasheva emphasized.

The Permanent Representative emphasized that the International Ukrainian School program, aimed at schoolchildren from the temporarily occupied territories, should ensure not only access to education but also the security of connection to Ukrainian schools:

“The International Ukrainian School’s team implements standards of safe communication with children, understands security challenges, and maintains a balance between ensuring communication with children and not putting students and their families in danger posed by the Russian occupation administration,” the Permanent Representative stated.

During the event, the Board of Trustees of the International Ukrainian School presented the Strategy for Development of the International Ukrainian School and aspects of the project team’s activities, emphasizing that the school will function as a center for educational diplomacy, a platform for external education, and distance asynchronous learning. 

The International Ukrainian School (IUS) is a public international school for children who do not have the opportunity to receive education offline due to emigration or staying in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. IUS provides an opportunity to receive primary, essential, and complete secondary education and official state-issued documents confirming the educational levels completed.