The education sector now needs to address not only learning issues but also the many related challenges that arise with technological development. «Today, education systems worldwide face a serious challenge — digitalization and the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence. That is why we are thinking about our teachers, and not just young specialists. Starting this academic year, we will continue, in an updated format, an online school for teachers and experienced educators at the National Education Academy, where we will introduce them to new teaching methods and approaches in the face of digitalization challenges. We will launch a new professional development program for school principals, which will be completely reformatted and exclusively practice-oriented. When coming to the National Education Academy, each principal will be able to visit a specific school, gymnasium, or lyceum and study practical cases — whether it’s working with children who require special educational conditions, gifted children, or schools where the process of educating the younger generation is particularly well organized,» the education minister said.

Andrei Ivanets noted that the influx of teaching staff this year is significant. «Almost 6,000 young specialists have joined educational institutions across the country — graduates of colleges and universities. We pay special attention to them. It is important for us that every young specialist finds a school, kindergarten, or college where they want to work every day. For us, the retention rate is probably one of the key indicators. We see that in a number of regions, the retention rate for young teachers exceeds 90–95%. This indicates that decent conditions are being created — mentoring, social guarantees, and a comfortable creative team in the school where the young specialist arrives,» he emphasized.

In new urban neighborhoods where schools are being built, efforts are made to create maximum comfort not only for teachers but also for students, including first-graders, to prevent overcrowded classrooms. «One of the sensitive issues that parents pay attention to is the two-shift school system. Every year, we move step by step toward creating more comfortable conditions, specifically a single-shift system. And we have made significant progress in this direction. Only 15% of schools will operate in two shifts, while 85% will operate in a single-shift mode. So a school principal may try to pack students more tightly, but that is to create the opportunity for first-shift learning, and we should understand that,» the education minister added.