British Council impact (and new offices) in Ukraine

One of the many things that the UK and Ukraine have in common is a keen interest in quality education. We are both countries that like to study (and play!) hard. The UK remains a destination of choice for Ukrainian students, who often leave my country as star graduates. International students come to the UK for the high quality of our education – they also come to learn English.

Since 1992, the British Council has been working in Ukraine, promoting UK education, arts and culture and developing a friendly knowledge and understanding of the UK. It has also been supporting Ukraine in reforming its education system and revitalising its cultural sector, and more recently using the UK’s experience and resources to address the educational, social and cultural consequences of the current conflict. Oh, and they also teach English…

On Tuesday, it was my great pleasure to open the British Council’s brand new premises at 29 Zhylianska Street in Kyiv with Minister of Education and Science Lilia Hrynevych, British Council Director Simon Williams and British Council UK Trustee Clare Reddington.

The new building hosts modern and comfortable facilities for the British Council’s students and visitors, and has been designed with the advice of the National Assembly of Ukraine of People with Disabilities to be fully accessible by both EU and Ukrainian standards.

I am proud of the role that the British Council has played in Ukraine. Did you know that since the Revolution of Dignity the British Council has:

• directly trained more than 5,000 Ukrainian university and school English language teachers
• involved 200 Ukrainian universities in its programmes, linking more than 50 of them with universities in the UK
• trained more than 50,000 young Ukrainians as Active Citizens
• worked with more than 4,000 artists, cultural managers and creative entrepreneurs
• and trains around 3,000 adult and young learners each year through its commercial language school here in Kyiv.

Alongside all this, the British Council continues to support Education Reform in Ukraine, and is one of the Ministry of Education and Science’s most valued partners.

Over the past 4 years, I have seen the remarkable progress made by Minister Hrynevych and her team through initiatives such as the New Ukrainian School – Education Reform is one of the major successes of recent years, and is something that all educators in this country should be proud of.

We very much hope that this work will continue, and that the UK and Ukraine can continue to mutually benefit from our partnership in education and learning.