Ukraine 2024

Key takeaways

The war has had a severe impact on VET in Ukraine, reducing the number of institutions from 694 before the invasion to 541 in 2024. Infrastructure damage, displacement, and security concerns continue to disrupt education, limiting enrolment, internships, and in-person learning. Despite these challenges, Ukraine has expanded digital tools, academic mobility programmes, and vocational training to help learners continue their education. Safety investments support institutions in frontline areas, while EU accession efforts and governance reforms strengthen the system.

Enrolment in VET declined in 2024 amid ongoing security concerns and displacement. However, the government has introduced measures to counteract the trend. Graduates from regions affected by the war and those abroad receive state-standard VET documents to ensure that their credentials remain recognised. Expanded training and retraining initiatives, including short courses in critical sectors, have increased opportunities for participation. While initial VET remains a challenge, Ukraine has improved access to CVET and adult learning through favourable legislation and stronger collaboration with private businesses. New amendments to the Law on VET as well as targeted initiatives for war-affected groups are expected to further strengthen opportunities for learning, though their full impact remains to be seen.

Since 2023, Ukraine has also made progress in strengthening the quality and relevance of VET to better support learners and the labour market. Dual education is expanding as theoretical learning is increasingly being combined with hands-on trainings. The National Qualifications Framework is being aligned with European standards to improve recognition, and occupational classifications are being updated to accommodate evolving labour market demands.

Ukraine has also advanced in integrating the green transition and digital skills into VET curricula. However, while system performance in providing foundational skills and competences to youth has improved since 2023, performance in support of better skills for adults has declined. Thereby, governance and resource constraints pose significant challenges. Stakeholder participation has become a greater challenge, financial and material resources are more limited, and concerns over teaching materials and infrastructure are growing. A shortage of qualified human resources adds further strain, with these difficulties largely attributed to the wartime context.

Nonetheless, efforts to modernise system management continue, for instance through a new Law on VET. Safety measures have been reinforced, with substantial investments in shelters for institutions in high-risk areas. These efforts ensure that VET remains functional during the war while supporting long-term resilience and economic stability.

Access to learning

Monitoring in the area of access to and participation to learning helps countries assess the extent to which initial VET, continuing VET and other learning opportunities are accessible and attractive to all learners, regardless of their individual backgrounds or reasons for participating. The data also reflects how well learners can expect to progress through and graduate from these learning opportunities.

Opportunities for lifelong learning: access and participation

The results show that access to vocational education and training in Ukraine has changed in several ways. Adults have fewer opportunities to participate in CVET and other forms of lifelong learning than before, even though overall access remains relatively strong. While participation in initial VET is still limited, access to higher levels of education after vocational training has become more common. More learners are progressing to tertiary education, and completion rates in vocational programmes have improved. These developments reflect the wider difficulties the system faces in expanding access at the entry level while creating more flexible learning pathways for those already in VET.

Many of the challenges in initial VET stem from structural barriers that make it difficult for young people to choose vocational education in the first place. The availability of training opportunities is still a concern, and efforts to increase the attractiveness of VET have not yet led to significant change. At the same time, participation in CVET remains relatively stable. Despite a more difficult environment, many adults continue to access training opportunities, including courses that help them reskill or improve their qualifications. However, lifelong learning is not yet fully embedded in the education and training system, and more needs to be done to support participation across all age groups.

The disruptions caused by the war have made it harder for young people and adults to access training. In response, Ukraine has introduced new measures, including changes to the Law on Vocational Education, financial support for learners in the form of vouchers, and free training programmes for groups affected by the war. These initiatives aim to reduce barriers to participation and provide learning opportunities for those who need them most. While these efforts have expanded access, their full impact is not yet clear, as many of the changes are still new. Some of the biggest challenges remain in ensuring that learners can move easily between different types of education and training without losing progress.

Several factors have helped maintain access to adult learning despite the crisis. A supportive legal framework has encouraged participation, and private businesses have played a greater role in training provision. Many companies now run their own training centres in partnership with public VET providers. Donors and civil society organisations have also introduced short-term courses that prepare adults for jobs expected to be in high demand during the country’s reconstruction. However, initial VET remains an area of concern. Many young learners still lack sufficient opportunities to enter vocational education, and further efforts are needed to make training more accessible and relevant to their needs.

Access to VET in Ukraine has changed in several ways. Fewer adults participate in CVET and lifelong learning, but system performance in support of access to VET remains relatively strong. More learners are progressing to tertiary education, and completion rates in vocational programmes have improved. However, structural barriers continue to limit participation in initial VET, and efforts to increase its attractiveness have yet to gain traction. Despite the war, many adults have opportunities to engage in training, although VET is not yet fully embedded in a lifelong learning context. New measures, including financial support and free training for war-affected groups, aim to reduce barriers, though their full impact remains less clear.

The Torino Process is a regular review of national systems of vocational education and training as well as adult education. It is designed to analyse the ways in which national VET systems (including adult education) address the challenges of human capital development in a lifelong learning perspective. It was established by the ETF in 2010 and has been carried out in partner countries in Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean ever since.

Monitoring in the context of the Torino Process describes the extent to which countries deliver on their commitments to learners in support of their learning through life (lifelong learning - LLL) in three major areas of policy and system performance: access to learning, quality of learning, and system organisation.

Quality of learning

Quality and relevance of learning is the area of monitoring that identifies how successfully the VET system provides basic skills and key competences to both young and adult learners. It highlights the relevance of VET programmes to the world of work and how effectively VET graduates transition into the labour market. Additionally, it monitors efforts to promote excellence across key domains, including pedagogy, professional development, programme content, governance, and social inclusion, as well as the openness of the VET system to innovation in response to the evolving needs of learners and labour markets.

Lifelong learning outcomes: quality and relevance, excellence and innovation

The quality and relevance of VET in Ukraine has evolved in several ways since 2023. Some areas have shown progress, particularly in equipping young learners with foundational skills and integrating themes related to digitalisation and the green transition into curricula. At the same time, challenges persist in ensuring that training content aligns closely with immediate labour market needs. While the employability of VET graduates has improved, work-based learning opportunities remain limited, and career guidance continues to be an area of weaker performance. Adult education faces increasing difficulties in maintaining the quality of skills and competences, reflecting broader challenges in embedding specialised knowledge within a lifelong learning context.

Although young learners are now more likely to acquire foundational skills and key competences, disparities remain between students in VET and those in general education. Overall, the learning outcomes of youth in Ukraine remain below the benchmarks set through international student assessments like PISA, as systemic challenges continue to put them at a disadvantage in terms of quality of learning outcomes.

VET graduates in Ukraine have become somewhat more employable since 2023, largely due to a shift in how policymakers evaluate the role of CVET in supporting employment and career progression. However, more needs to be done as the structure of VET programmes has not changed significantly, and many courses still lack strong connections to the labour market. For instance, work-based learning remains underdeveloped, despite policies that require industrial practice for students in IVET and employer-led training for adults in CVET.

Career guidance has seen new initiatives, such as awareness campaigns, digital platforms, and a national career guidance portal, yet system performance in this area remains relatively weak as well. A more effective integration of work-relevant experiences into vocational training is still needed to support smoother transitions into employment.

Apart from that, VET in Ukraine appears more responsive to emerging long-term priorities, such as digitalisation and sustainability, than to immediate labour market demands. There has been progress with the integration of green transition themes into curricula, specifically through the promotion of environmental awareness through adult education. The area of digitalisation has also seen improvement, largely due to greater availability of computers for students and the widespread adoption of online instruction, particularly in response to war-related disruptions.

Since 2023, there have been changes in the quality and relevance delivered through VET in Ukraine. Young learners now acquire stronger foundational skills, and curricula increasingly include digitalisation and green transition themes. However, training content still does not fully align with labour market needs. While VET graduates are more employable, work-based learning remains underdeveloped, and career guidance is still weak. Adult education faces growing challenges in maintaining the quality of skills and competences provided to adult learners. There are also disparities between VET and general education to the disadvantage of VET. Digitalisation has become a more prominent priority, largely due to the expansion of online instruction which helps learners continue their education despite wartime disruptions.

System organisation

System organisation is the area of monitoring that captures performance across various domains of management and administration. It examines whether practitioners and leaders have access to data and evidence to support informed decision-making, the level of stakeholder involvement in VET governance, the quality and capacity of staff in leadership positions, and the degree of internationalisation. Additionally, monitoring the allocation of human and financial resources to the VET system helps assess whether these resources effectively support teaching, training, and learning.

System organisation: management and resourcing

The organisation and management of VET in Ukraine have faced significant challenges since 2023. Financial resources and the material infrastructure are areas of concern as VET providers find it more difficult to maintain a high-quality learning environment in times of war. Funding shortages, particularly in adult education, have placed further strain on the system, as resources have been reallocated to sectors directly supporting the defence efforts of the country. The material base for teaching and learning has also weakened, with growing concerns about the availability and quality of educational materials and infrastructure. School leaders increasingly report that resource limitations create obstacles to effective instruction, affecting both vocational and general education.

Difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified teaching staff have added to these challenges. The number of fully certified teachers has declined, and school principals increasingly view staff shortages as barriers to delivering high-quality education. The wartime context has made it harder to sustain an adequate supply of trained professionals, as many experienced educators have left the system. Leadership capacity in VET institutions has also weakened, reflecting the difficulties in ensuring a stable workforce. While these trends are not unique to Ukraine, the country now faces greater obstacles in maintaining a sufficient and well-qualified teaching force than in previous years.

Despite these difficulties, some aspects of system governance in Ukraine have improved. More school leaders engage in transparency efforts to report student achievement data and involving students in feedback processes. Consultation mechanisms for school improvement have become more structured, reinforcing a culture of transparency and stakeholder engagement. Although these changes remain modest, they indicate a growing emphasis on making VET more accountable to learners and the wider community. However, participatory governance, which relies on collaboration between different actors in education, has weakened, suggesting that decision-making processes in VET, on the other hand, have become less inclusive.

The availability of data for planning and policy development remains a challenge. Ukraine has continued to participate in international data collection initiatives, but progress in strengthening national-level evidence systems has been slower than in many other countries. As a result, the country has fallen behind in providing internationally comparable data, even though its internal data capacity has not declined.

The internationalisation of VET, including partnerships and teacher exchanges, remains another area where progress has been limited. While the system continues to function under difficult conditions, sustained efforts will be needed to strengthen its financial base, improve resource allocation, and ensure that governance structures remain effective in supporting long-term resilience.

VET in Ukraine continues to operate under significant pressure, with financial constraints, resource shortages, and staff retention challenges creating obstacles to effective system management. The war has made it more difficult to maintain a high-quality learning environment, particularly in adult education, where funding shortfalls have been most severe. Infrastructure and teaching materials remain areas of concern, as many institutions struggle to provide adequate resources for both learners and educators. Despite these difficulties, important aspects of governance have improved since 2023. Schools are becoming more transparent in reporting student performance, and structured consultation mechanisms are reinforcing accountability. However, decision-making processes have become less inclusive. Challenges also persist in evidence collection.

Promoting access and participation in opportunities for lifelong learning

Supporting quality and relevance of lifelong learning

Index of system performance

International comparability of performance results

In addition to messages about system performance, the Torino Process monitoring delivers information about the international comparability of results of each country, the extent to which these results may be susceptible to bias, and how self-critical a country is when it reports about its policy and system performance for external monitoring purposes. This is possible because the monitoring methodology foresees keeping accurate records about the availability, origin and type of evidence used to calculate the monitoring results for each country, including Ukraine.

The monitoring results of Ukraine have become more internationally comparable since 2023, placing the country in the second-best group for international comparability of its VET and lifelong learning data. This improvement is largely due to substantial efforts over the past decade to improve capacity in Ukraine for the collection and use of data, as well as its active participation in international data collection initiatives. However, the monitoring results of Ukraine remain susceptible to bias, as nearly 80% of the findings in this round rely on self-assessment responses. Despite this, Ukraine tends to evaluate the performance of its VET system in a relatively balanced manner, avoiding extremes in its ratings and providing more neutral self-assessment results compared to other countries participating in the Torino Process monitoring.