The Optima Distance School has announced that it has been forced to suspend the construction of an educational center near Kyiv due to unfounded accusations by law enforcement officials of illegal land acquisition.
Maria Miletska, founder and CEO of the Optima distance school, told Interfax-Ukraine at a press conference on Tuesday that the issue is the investigation by law enforcement agencies that accused her of illegally seizing a 4 hectare plot of land near Kyiv.
According to Miletska, the project has been suspended for at least four months.
For his part, Miletska’s lawyer, Oleksandr Protas, noted that, according to the accusations by law enforcement agencies, Miletska has no legal rights to the land plot, despite the fact that she purchased it on the secondary market at a market price.
Protas clarified that the land plot was alienated from the land fund of the Ministry of Defense six or seven years ago and has changed hands several times since then.
“As it turned out later, this land is under investigation because it became a source of enrichment for some officials. I can’t comment on whether this land was transferred to individuals legally or illegally, but Maria Miletska bought this land absolutely legally, at a market price. A company engaged in professional land search offered the land, all payments were made in non-cash form, and there were no comments from the state registrar or the notary who carried out the registration. And after the land was acquired, Maria Oleksandrivna, unfortunately, became a party to the criminal proceedings,” he said.
At the same time, the lawyer emphasized the “unprecedented pressure (on Miletska – IF-U) from the investigators who are investigating this case”.
“I was present during the searches that took place unexpectedly, I witnessed outright threats against me. There was no need to conduct such investigative actions as a search at all, because the documents that law enforcement officers needed were provided voluntarily,” he said.
Protas noted that “there are already two court decisions where Maria Oleksandrivna is recognized as an absolutely bona fide purchaser of this land.”
“The panel of judges took the side of our client that Maria Miletska did not alienate the land from the Ministry of Defense, that Miletska purchased it from individuals to whom the state had no claims until recently,” he said.
Protas clarified that the local village council distributed the land among its residents back in 2017, and until 2023, they were absolutely the legal owners of the land.
At the same time, Protas noted that his client has no grounds to apply to the ECHR so far, as all the possibilities for protection provided by national law have not been exhausted.
In turn, the founder of the Optima School, Latvian citizen Roberts Vaisla, noted that the school has already implemented several educational projects in Ukraine. These include the Optima Kids project, which provides educational materials and enables children to prepare for school, and a college that provides training in three specialties.
In addition, Optima has received Cambridge accreditation and is preparing content that allows Ukrainian children to study according to Cambridge standards and programs in Ukraine.
Five pilot schools will be opened in Ukraine in 2024 within the framework of the project of architectural transformation of Soviet educational institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science reports.
“Next year it is planned to open five pilot schools that have been selected for the project of architectural transformation of Soviet educational institutions. These are schools in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Krivoy Rog and Zaporizhzhya, damaged by the war. They will be working already from the fall of 2024. There will not only make a new repair, but will completely rethink the typical Soviet school spaces”, – stated in the message of the press service of the Ministry.
It is noted that new design solutions in schools will allow to effectively implement the principles of the “New Ukrainian School”, in particular, qualitatively realize the activity approach in teaching, conduct experiments, flexibly adapt classes to different learning needs.
“Also, we must do everything to make schools truly safe and inclusive. And this is more relevant than ever in times of war,” the department emphasized.
According to the report, the changes in educational institutions were led and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrainian urban bureau Big City Lab, concepts were created with the participation of European architects Rebuild the Wonderful, and the creation of the concept of transformation of five pilot schools is funded by the Mariupol Reborn public organization.
ARCHITECTURE, educational institution, PROJECT, SCHOOL, TRANSFORMATION
On September 1, about 25,000 first-graders will start school in the Ukrainian capital, which is close to the pre-war figures, according to the website of the Kyiv City State Administration.
“It is thanks to our work and efforts that the educational process in Kyiv has not stopped. And this is despite the fact that during the large-scale war the Russian aggressor damaged 104 educational institutions in the capital. 83 of them have already been restored, while the rest are undergoing repairs. This year, about 25 thousand first-graders will go to Kyiv schools, which is close to the pre-war figures. I believe this is a manifestation of trust in us. And the desire of parents for their children to live and study in Ukraine, in Kyiv,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko at an educational conference in August.
According to him, all 420 schools in the capital will start their work, the vast majority of them in a full-time format.
The mayor thanked the teachers for their work. According to Klitschko, 762 graduates received the maximum 200 points in the national multi-subject test.
Winter vacations in the capital’s schools will start on schedule, from December 26, 2022, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.
“But will last a month – until January 27, 2023. During this time, schools will be heated in minimum mode to support the heating system. Teachers, if desired, can go on paid leave for the duration of the vacations,” Klitschko wrote in his Telegram channel.
He noted that in case of emergency, part of the schools in the city will be used for the work of heating points.
The school year will last in the capital’s schools until July 1 – according to the law.
Yesterday a new academic year began in Ukrainian schools. At the same time, due to the realities of martial law, the organization of the educational process in different regions differs significantly. Territorial became the determining criterion for choosing the form of education this year. According to Minister of Education Sergei Shkarlet, students are divided into categories depending on their place of residence at the start of the school year. Depending on this, the forms of education can be selected: full-time, distance, mixed, family, or external studies.
In Kyiv, most schools will continue to use the traditional full-time form of education. According to the KMDA, about 68% of schools in the capital are equipped with shelters, the capacity of which will directly affect the number of students in the classes. This should be determined by a special commission. At the same time, according to the survey, about 70% of parents of Kyiv students choose the full-time form of education for their children.
Oksana Poenko, the founder and director of the Mainstream school in the capital, believes that the choice of the form of education in the current conditions should be individual.
“Now the safety of the child is of decisive importance, depending on this, the format of education can be different. If the school is equipped with a reliable shelter, then it can be even a safer place than a residential building where such shelter may not be,” she said.
According to Oksana Poenko, one should not forget about the traditional advantages and disadvantages of distance or face-to-face education.
“The best option for learning, in my opinion, is now a mixed form, when individual subjects can be taught remotely. The specifics of the course itself are of great importance. Some disciplines are much better perceived by students through the full-time form. We have implemented several concepts at our school as full-time, For example, there are specialized classes for older students, as well as an online school for distance education,” Poenko stressed.
In her opinion, the initiative of the Ministry of Education to reduce the number of students in classes and introduce two-shift education is correct not only for security reasons but also from a purely pedagogical point of view.
“Since 2016, the Mainstream School has been using a methodology to create a special social environment for students, when their individuality is maximally supported. It is optimal for a teacher to maintain communication with no more than 10 students during a lesson. Yes, there are state standards that say about 25-30 students, but, in my opinion, this is an outdated practice that should be abandoned long ago. In such a class, the teacher simply does not have time to pay enough attention to everyone, and this is very important for the development of the child’s individuality,” Poenko said.
The Mainstream School was founded in October 2016. The purpose of creating an educational institution was the need for quality education for children. The school appeared as an alternative to the state one, and over the years of working with children, it can be said with confidence that studying in a private school of a new format has its advantages. And the increase in the number of students by 10 times suggests that the positive aspects of such education are obvious!
Education in the school is focused primarily on the quality of education and the preparation of the student. The educational process at the school is focused primarily on the quality of education and the preparation of the student. The level of education of the child meets not only the requirements of state standards but also the obligatory needs of a modern person – the ability for independent and harmonious development, self-learning, and self-organization.
DISTANCE_EDUCATION, EDUCATION, MAINSTREAM_SCHOOL, OKSANA_PAENKO, SCHOOL
The transition period for updating the procurement system and mastering new technological maps as part of the school feeding reform ended on January 1, 2022, the updated menu for school canteens consists of 160 dishes with a limited content of salt, sugar, vegetable and animal fats and offal, the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported on its website on Tuesday.
According to the Service, from January 1, 2022, all school institutions are obliged to reduce the amount of sugar in dishes by 2-2.5 times – to 7.5 grams per meal; increase the amount of fruit to 100 grams per meal; reduce the amount of bread per meal from 60-80 grams to 30-50 grams; to increase the amount of poultry and dairy products in the formation of the menu.
Moreover, about 75% of the products in canteens should be of plant origin. Potatoes as a separate dish can be offered no more than twice a week. It is forbidden to boil vegetables for preparing salads the next day, and season salads immediately before serving.
When forming the menu, preference should be given to products with a higher dietary fiber content (for example, buckwheat instead of rice); give preference to high-fiber wholegrain baked goods with added bran and seeds; meat dishes should be combined with vegetable side dishes or salads as often as possible.
According to the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, saturated fats in meals should not account for more than 10% of the total calories.
Processed cheese is not allowed. Salt can only be used iodized and only for cooking. It is also forbidden to use sauces and mayonnaise (except ketchup), and drinking water should always be available during meals. Juice can be offered in limited quantities without added sugar or sweeteners.
In school cafeterias, it is forbidden to sell sweet baked goods, foods high in sugar or salt, preservatives, artificial coloring agents and food flavoring, carbonated drinks, industrial and culinary meat and fish products, unpasteurized juices and dairy products, coffee and mushrooms.
As reported, the presentation of the new school menu took place in May 2021 with the participation of the country’s first lady Olena Zelenska, Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Hluschenko, Head of the State Food Service Vladyslava Mahaletska and chef Yevhen Klopotenko.
