First Lady Olena Zelenska participated in the 2024 Global Teacher Prize Ukraine ceremony. The event was also attended by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi and educators from all regions of the country.
"This year, Teachers' Day is close to Defenders' Day on the calendar, and that's symbolic. Because teachers are also defending something – the right of children to a normal life, to development, to a future," said the First Lady.
This year's winner of the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine is Lesia Pavliuk from Ivano-Frankivsk, a primary school teacher who was one of the first to work with inclusive classrooms. She was selected from over 1,200 educators. The top prize is 1 million hryvnias to fund her own educational project. Her professional dream is to train her colleagues on how to effectively work in inclusive classrooms.
In addition to the main winner, several other teachers were recognized in special categories. The Best Preschool Teacher award went to Oksana Masovets from Kamyanets-Podilskyi, and the Best Chemistry Teacher award was given to Larysa Romanyshyn from Lviv. Both received 500,000 hryvnias each to support their own educational projects.
The Choice By Heart award was presented to Yevhen Kravchenko, a teacher from the School of Superheroes, while three other educators were honored under the Talents For Ukraine grant program, sponsored by the KSE Foundation: Kateryna Korzun, Yaroslav Fedko, and Larysa Romanyshyn.
Additionally, the Inclusivity award was given to history teacher Vladyslav Akymenko from Lozova for his work with children with special educational needs and those who were successfully returned home from deportation.
"I want to thank not just the nominees, but all teachers whose lessons are eagerly awaited, even in the midst of the trials of war. You bring not only knowledge but also hope to an entire nation," said Olena Zelenska.
The Global Teacher Prize Ukraine is an annual national award for teachers who are agents of change in education. It has been presented for eight years in a row by Osvitoria NGO.