Public Private Partnership to improved plumbing education: Status Update from Ukraine

It has been four weeks already since the invasion. From the very first days and onward the Ukraine Swisscontact team received incredible support from the Headoffice, people around the organization, and donors. 

Thanks to this, we had a green light to inform our primary recipients - VET schools - that the second phase of the Project would continue. Obviously, this meant that we needed to adapt the Project activities and define together with our partners and stakeholders how we can have an impact under the current circumstances. 

To begin with, the EdUP team carried out online interviews with VET schools available for conversation. From among 25 schools, 15 confirmed their satisfactory condition and readiness to work. Some of them even claimed to have resumed the online education process. Several schools provided their facilities for displaced people and had to cope with the unexpected day-to-day household challenges.  

Addressing the needs of the schools, the Project has already directed some of its funds to purchase the consumables and appliances most needed today, such as washing machines, sanitary equipment etc.  “We can direct 20% of the Project budget to help VET schools in the current situation. Now we can see that this is of value for them and helps solve some of the existing problems”, the EdUP Project manager Sonja Loosli quoted as saying. 

The EdUP Project offered its resources to accumulate all available video lectures used in the educational process and make them available for the rest of the schools. “We understand that now it is beyond possible to organize the production of video lectures in each school. Therefore, we made an open call to share the videos which have already been made and used in plumbing education. These videos will be available on our Project website”, said Yuliia Epifanova, EdUP skills development expert.   

First Plumbing Aid

Several schools supported the idea to carry out short courses on “first plumbing aid” for displaced people, and teach them how to connect a faucet, washing machine, boiler, install a sink or bathtub or fix the problem with the water supply. “We have already produced a leaflet to be shared by volunteers among the displaced people. These courses will be free for the public”, as explained by Nina Ilarionova, EdUP partnership relations expect. 

Invasion scuttled the plans of the spring enrollment campaign, which was on the Project’s agenda. But the team is optimistic about the future.  “In a post-war period, we can expect an increased interest in VET education, including plumbing professions. There will be so much to be rebuilt. We are helping VET schools on the communication front as well” – says Oksana Ushakova, EdUP communication manager.    

We are still in the process of finding out which school buildings in our network have suffered physical damages.   

The EdUP project will continue to build relations between VET schools, private companies, and other stakeholders involved.