Lviv IT Cluster Develops Partnerships with the Ministry of Education and Science

On June 12, 2023, the CEO of Lviv IT Cluster, Stepan Veselovskyi, and the Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Lviv IT Cluster and the Ministry. The partnership involves collaboration in higher education, professional (vocational), advanced vocational education, and general secondary technical education. The Ministry of Education and Science will also support establishing the Lviv IT Cluster’s Research Center.

Due to the full-scale war, Ukrainian education has faced numerous challenges. These include the difficulty for students and teachers to travel abroad for internships, brain drain, the need to return to in-person learning, and lack of modern spaces for additional development, education, and mentorship. The Ministry will address these issues in collaboration with the Cluster.

They have also agreed to work on ensuring that young people stay in Ukraine to pursue their education. Migration and the loss of human capital remain one of the challenges. Currently, over half a million students and nearly 12,000 teachers are abroad.

The initiatives of the Lviv IT Cluster can serve as examples of change. The community has been modernizing bachelor’s programs in collaboration with tech companies for over seven years through the IT Expert project. Over 4,500 students are already pursuing degrees through 19 updated educational programs at four universities in Lviv. Starting with the first year of university, they create their projects under the guidance of mentors, instructors, and tech experts.

The transformation of vocational education is another priority direction for the Ministry. The Lviv IT Cluster has the experience and expertise to help implement reforms more effectively. Within the Vo-Tech School project, the community’s team updated the program for “Information Processing and Software Operator” at Lviv Vocational School No. 29.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has also supported the establishment of a Research Center for engineering students by the Lviv IT Cluster in Lviv. The Center will provide students and researchers with additional knowledge and an opportunity to work on their projects and startups. Modern laboratories for interdisciplinary research and spaces for lectures and workshops will be equipped for this purpose.

“I am convinced that the signing of the Memorandum between the Lviv IT Cluster and the Ministry is an important step towards transforming tech education in Ukraine. As the largest association of technology companies in Ukraine, the Lviv IT Cluster has years of experience in innovative education development and can offer practical solutions. We are grateful to the Ministry for supporting the establishment of the Research Center. We believe it will become an important space for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and synergy between education, science, and entrepreneurship. It will also serve as a good example to follow and create similar centers in other cities,” says Stepan Veselovskyi, CEO of Lviv IT Cluster.

“Innovation and technology are exactly what education needs today. The world is rapidly evolving, and the task of the education system is to quickly find effective solutions to the challenges of the present. To achieve this, we need to collaborate with all powerful stakeholders. Partnership with the Lviv IT Cluster is a great opportunity to implement innovation in Ukrainian education right now,” adds Oksen Lisovyi, the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Previously, Lviv IT Cluster participated in the joint project of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Digital Transformation called “Modernized Informatics – IT Studies.” It involves updating the school courses on Informatics. The Lviv IT Cluster engages experts from community companies in reviewing and evaluating educational materials.

In June 2022, the Lviv IT Cluster, in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, initiated the educational project titled IT Generation. It provided 2,200 Ukrainians with the opportunity to study and acquire relevant tech professions for free.