18 institutions, 100 participants, and the next step toward change: Kyiv concludes a training cycle on inclusive vocational education

A cycle of training sessions on inclusive vocational education for 18 vocational education institutions from different regions of Ukraine has concluded in Kyiv. A total of 100 participants — administrators, teachers, and vocational training masters — completed the training. The next stage of the project will include supervision, practical guidance, an inclusive handbook, and new tools to help institutions embed inclusion into their day-to-day work.

On 23–27 March, the fourth and final training on the development of inclusive vocational education took place in Kyiv within the framework of the Skills4Recovery Multi-Donor Initiative. It brought together and completed the full training cycle for 18 vocational education institutions from across Ukraine.

In total, 100 participants completed the training: 36 administrators and 64 teachers and vocational training masters. This matters because inclusive change in an educational institution does not begin with one motivated individual. It begins with a team that shares a common vision and has practical tools to put it into action.

The fourth training completed the learning cycle for the final three participating institutions: Kyiv Vocational College of Construction and Municipal Services, Kropyvnytskyi Engineering Professional College of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University, and the Poltava Centre for Vocational and Technical Education of the State Employment Service.

Throughout the cycle, participants worked on very practical questions: how to make the learning environment more accessible, how to adapt the educational process, how to better support persons with disabilities, veterans, internally displaced persons, and other learners with diverse needs. The focus was on inclusive teaching methods, universal design for learning, crisis support, psychological first aid, teamwork, and the everyday decisions that determine whether a person feels welcomed and included in the educational process.

Kyiv Vocational College of Construction and Municipal Services already has practical experience in inclusive education. The institution employs a practical psychologist who supports both learners and staff. The college has experience teaching persons with hearing impairments and epilepsy, and it organizes barrier-free days, anti-bullying seminars, and sessions on tolerance and inclusive language. At the same time, the team openly speaks about the areas that still need strengthening: a formalized inclusion policy, adapted programmes, modern crisis response procedures, and the removal of physical barriers within the premises.

Kropyvnytskyi Engineering Professional College of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University is an institution with a long history dating back to 1870. Today, around 500 students study there, and psychological support, adaptation measures for first-year students, an individual approach, and a culture of respect all play an important role in student support. The college adapts learning materials, flexibly adjusts programmes to students’ needs, and creates an environment where there is no place for ridicule or stigma. Among the key challenges are physical accessibility, limited resources, and the need for more systematic support for institutions implementing inclusion in technically demanding fields.

The Poltava Centre for Vocational and Technical Education of the State Employment Service works primarily with adult learners — people seeking employment, changing professions, or upgrading their skills. Since 2014, the institution has built significant experience in training internally displaced persons, veterans, and persons with disabilities. Here, the educational process is built around the learner: individual approaches are applied, along with daytime, evening, distance, and blended learning formats, as well as psychological support. At the same time, the team points to ongoing challenges: architectural accessibility, the need for adapted equipment, sensory navigation, and practical methodologies for working with people with different types of impairments.

All three institutions differ in history, scale, and operating model. But they share one important thing: for them, inclusion is no longer an abstract concept. It is daily work with real people, real barriers, and real solutions.

What is Next

The training cycle has ended, but the project is now moving into its next phase — support and wider dissemination of the solutions developed so far.

The institutions will receive supervisory and advisory support to help teaching and administrative teams address the practical challenges of implementing inclusive approaches. This stage will combine online consultations, in-person visits, and peer exchange between institutions.

The project will also develop a practical inclusive handbook for vocational education institutions. It will include recommendations on how to create an accessible learning environment for veterans and persons with disabilities and will help spread the lessons learned more broadly.

In addition, training on inclusive approaches to first aid during emergencies and crisis situations related to PTSD is planned. Another area of work will focus on organizing inclusive information campaigns so that institutions can better communicate with learners and their families and attract people from vulnerable groups to education.

All of these efforts serve one shared goal: to help institutions move from isolated solutions to systematic work in which inclusion becomes part of everyday practice.

For NAPD and its partners, this training cycle is an important step toward a broader goal: making vocational education in Ukraine more open, safer, and truly accessible for people with different experiences and needs. And for the institutions themselves, it is an opportunity not only to talk about inclusion, but to integrate it consistently into the learning process, student support, and their future development strategies.

Project. The project “Inclusive Vocational Education and Training (VET): Improving Training for Veterans and People with Disabilities” is being implemented by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD), jointly with Christoffel-Blindenmission Christian Blind Mission e.V. (CBM), with financial support from the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia, and Denmark as part of the Skills4Recovery Multi-Donor Initiative, which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL).