Today, the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights hosted an inaugural meeting of the working group on preparing the Concept of Access to the Right to Education for Young People From the Temporarily Occupied Territories. Deputy Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko joined the meeting.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, experts from the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Council of Europe Office, representatives of NGOs and educational institutions took part in the discussion of key challenges related to access to the right to education for young people from the temporarily occupied territories.

The Deputy Permanent Representative emphasized the critical challenges faced by applicants and students from the temporarily occupied territories. In particular, Olha Kuryshko noted the logistical difficulties of moving from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea to the controlled territory of Ukraine, the obstruction of access to Ukrainian educational resources by the Russian occupiers, educational gaps, and the militarization of education in the occupied Crimea:    

“The long-term occupation and full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the aggressor state has significantly limited communication with the residents of temporarily occupied Crimea. Moving to the controlled territory of Ukraine is possible only through the territory of third countries; the occupation administrations block access to Ukrainian information resources, the militarization of education is deepening through the increase of so-called cadet and Cossack classes, and subjects are introduced to promote the propaganda of Russian narratives about the war in our country. The lack of opportunities to study the Ukrainian language and literature and the history of Ukraine creates educational gaps. Solving such complex issues requires a systematic state policy and understanding of the context in which children in the occupied territories live.” 

The Deputy Permanent Representative emphasized that addressing complex issues in education requires a comprehensive state policy. This includes developing educational programs to bridge academic gaps, finding new ways to communicate and share information with children and their parents in the occupied territories, determining approaches to recognize residents’ educational achievements, and creating opportunities for learning Ukrainian and indigenous languages.