Scientific and educational cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine under conditions of war

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Scientific and educational cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine under conditions of war

Oksana Ivanytska, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Lviv Polytechnic National University

In the article, based on the theoretical-methodological potential of the works of domestic andforeign political scientists, pedagogues and sociologists as well as national and international normative legal acts, a study of the peculiarities of scientific and educational cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine under conditions of war is carried out.

It is noted that an important strategic partner in Ukraine's fight against the aggressor is Lithuania, which provides assistance and support not only in the military sphere, but also in the social and humanitarian direction in order to maintain the appropriate level of scientific and educational development and overcome crisis phenomena at all levels of educational services providing.

Educational and scientific cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania during the war covers the most vulnerable areas, namely: peculiarities of children and youth adaptation to the educational process in Lithuania, psychological assistance, inclusive education, etc. Lithuanian partners, despite the war, are making every effort to continue and fully implement the started scientific and educational projects.

Attention is focused on the fact that the financing of current research projects is not only a significant material support for the students of our country, but also allows them to emotionally and psychologically adapt to the fact that the integration of Ukrainian youth into international scientific communities and educational institutions is important for the world community as sought-after future specialists who have proven themselves well on the labor market.

It is noted that despite the war, cooperation in the field of translation and linguistic studies is deepening, joint educational and scientific projects are being implemented in the fields of mechanical engineering, law, business, economics, management, chemical technologies, etc. There is the intensification of academic exchanges between the universities of the two countries, which is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania.

Attention is focused on the cooperation deepening in the development of inclusive education in Ukraine. This issue was relevant before the war, but today we have a rather urgent need to support a certain category of people who study according to inclusive methods. The war exacerbated this problem, because it is much more difficult for persons with special needs to realize their right to education under conditions of occupation, direct military operations, or the impossibility of evacuation to safe regions.

Key words: scientific research activity, war, inclusive education, multilingualism, international cooperation, educational process, European integration.

Науково-освітня співпраця Литви та України в умовах війни

Оксана Іваницька, доцент кафедри іноземних мов Інституту гуманітарних та соціальних наук Національного університету «Львівська політехніка»

У статті на основі теоретико-методологічного потенціалу праць вітчизняних і зарубіжних учених-політологів, педагогів і соціологів та національних і міжнародних нормативно-правових актів здійснено дослідження особливостей науково-освітньої співпраці Литви і України в умовах війни.

Зазначено, що важливим стратегічним партнером у боротьбі України з агресором є Литва, котра надає допомогу і підтримку не лише у військовій сфері, а й у соціально-гуманітарному напрямі щодо збереження належного рівня науково-освітнього розвитку та подолання кризових явищ на усіх рівнях надання освітніх послуг.

Освітньо-наукова співпраця України і Литви під час війни охоплює найбільш вразливі сфери, а саме: особливості адаптації дітей та молоді в навчальний процес у Литві, психологічна допомога, інклюзивна освіта тощо. Литовські партнери, попри війну, усіляко намагаються продовжити і повноцінно реалізувати започатковані науково-освітні проєкти.

Акцентовано увагу на тому, що фінансування актуальних науково-дослідних проектів є не лише вагомою матеріальною підтримкою для студентів нашої держави, а й дозволяє їм емоційно і психологічно налаштуватися на те, що для світової спільноти важливим є інтегрування української молоді у міжнародні наукові співтовариства і навчальні заклади як затребуваних майбутніх фахівців, що добре зарекомендували себе на ринку праці.

Зазначено, що попри війну поглиблюється взаємодія у сфері перекладу та лінгвістичних студій, реалізовуються спільні освітні і наукові проєкти у галузі машинобудування, права, бізнесу, економіки, менеджменту, хімічних технологій тощо. Інтенсифікація академічних обмінів між університетами двох країн, в чому Посольство Литовської Республіки максимально сприяє.

Акцентовано увагу на тому, що поглиблюється співпраця щодо розвитку інклюзивної освіти в Україні. Це питання було актуальним до війни, але сьогодні ми маємо досить нагальну потребу по підтримці певної категорії осіб, що навчаються за інклюзивними методиками. Війна загострила цю проблему, адже особам з особливими потребами значно складніше реалізувати своє право на освіту за умови окупації, прямих військових дій, або ж неможливості евакуації у безпечні регіони.

Ключові слова: науково-дослідна діяльність, війна, інклюзивна освіта, мультилінгвізм, міжнародна співпраця, освітній процес, євроінтеграція.

Formulation of the problem

European integration processes in Ukraine contributed to the international cooperation expansion in the interstate space not only in the political and economic environment, but also in the scientific and educational sphere.

Russia's war against Ukraine made corrections in the development of the domestic and international scientific and educational trajectory, shifting certain vectors of the mutual relations development in the direction of support and assistance to maintain the proper level of scientific and educational development as well as overcome crisis phenomena at all levels of educational services providing.

An important strategic partner in Ukraine's fight against the aggressor is Lithuania, which provides assistance and support not only in the military sphere, but also in the social and humanitarian direction.

Analysis of the main studies

For a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the indicated issues, it is advisable to rely on the theoretical and methodological potential of the works of domestic and foreign political scientists, pedagogues and sociologists, namely: А. Anisimova, P. Lisovskyi, Yu. Lisovska, N. Lohvinov, L. Movchan and others.

Their scientific concepts contributed to the following - that within the framework of political science, sociology, and pedagogy there is a new approach formation to the understanding of the educational environment, scientific research activities as well as features and challenges in the development of education and science under conditions of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.

The aim of the article is to analyze, on the basis of axiological and praxeological approaches, those issues that are most relevant to the understanding of the peculiarities of scientific and educational cooperation between Lithuania and Ukraine under conditions of war.

Presentation of the main material

Scientific research activity is a complex scientific and creative process that involves theoretical knowledge deepening of the researched problem, analysis of research in this field, development of skills to apply own knowledge in practice, improvement of independent work skills in accordance with the requirements of the medical specialists market (Vazhynskyi, 2016; Research work, 2022).

The Law of Ukraine «On Education» notes that the state promotes international cooperation of educational institutions and educational management bodies, provides appropriate currency allocations to them, exempts from taxation, payment of duties and customs fees for educational, scientific and industrial equipment and supplies received for them from abroad for educational and scientific purposes (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2017).

It is worth noting that educational and scientific cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania during the war covers the most vulnerable areas, namely: peculiarities of children and youth adaptation to the educational process in Lithuania, psychological assistance, inclusive education, etc.

In particular, in June 2022, the Minister of Education and Science S. Shkarlet held a working meeting with the Minister of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Yu. Siugzdiniene. The parties discussed the National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) conducting and the process of the Ukrainian children education organization who are temporarily in Lithuania in connection with Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

The ministers of Ukraine and Lithuania agreed on further cooperation, the creation of a joint working group to coordinate current educational issues. The Minister also informed that the teaching of 5 lessons of the Ukrainian language per week has been introduced at the Lithuanian schools and assured that the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of Lithuania will continue to contribute to the creation of conditions for the Ukrainian children education (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; 2022).

During the full-scale invasion of russia on the territory of Ukraine, Lithuania sheltered more than 20,000 Ukrainians. More than 10,000 children attend local kindergartens and schools. Out of 2,000 of our teachers who were also forced to flee war, 500 are already employed at the Lithuanian schools and have the opportunity to simultaneously teach at their native Ukrainian schools. Ukrainian citizens are also provided with psychological support, non- formal education is available, summer camps accept Ukrainian children.

Applicants from Ukraine continue to arrive to Lithuania. Their number is constantly growing. The peculiarity of this situation is that these are young people who come not only to get an education, but also need psychological and sometimes medical help. Therefore, the relevant social services of Lithuania are also involved in the process of such applicants adaptation.

For example, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences is ready to support applicants arriving from Ukraine as a result of the war, providing: English and Lithuanian languages courses; free accommodation in dormitories; assistance in finding an internship or job; online training, if necessary; psychological support; Internet access and library services; support of applicants family members, etc. (Modern education in Ukraine and abroad, 2022).

The economic factor is also important, namely, quite often there is the exemption of Ukrainian citizens from payment for education, or payment deferral or other forms of loyalty in financial matters.

It should not be overlooked that Lithuanian partners, despite the war, are making every effort to continue and fully implement the scientific- educational projects that have been started.

Thus, in March 2021, a competition for joint Ukrainian-Lithuanian research projects was announced for implementation in 2022-2023. The organizers of the competition are the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania and the Research Council of Lithuania.

The competition remained open to any scientific research groups of higher educational institutions, scientific institutions, enterprises charter of which includes the activity of conducting scientific research of Ukraine, and scientific-research groups of the Republic of Lithuania institutions. This will make it possible to continue the development of priority research directions in Ukraine, applying their results, in particular, to the process of reconstruction of Ukraine in the future, and also will not allow certain directions to stop progress in development (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2021).

In the context of Lithuania's support for Ukraine during the war, it is worth emphasizing that Lithuania has been providing such support since 2014, actively participating in supporting educational processes in the east of our country.

The bilateral Lithuanian-Ukrainian project “Supporting education in the post-conflict territories of Eastern Ukraine

Ensuring the quality of non-formal education” became important in this process. Its purpose is to improve the quality of extracurricular education and introduce a new transparent principle of financing.

This work will be financed by the Lithuanian Fund for the Development of Cooperation and Promotion of Democracy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania (Government Portal, 2018).

During his visit to Ukraine on February 24, 2021, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis emphasized Lithuania's consistent support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, European and Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as the reform process (Lutsyshyn, 2021: 111).

The Republic of Lithuania conducts active grant cooperation with Ukraine in the field of higher education. Funding of current research projects is not only a significant material support for students of our country, but also allows them to emotionally and psychologically adjust to the fact that for the world community it is important to integrate Ukrainian youth into international scientific communities and educational institutions as sought-after future specialists, which have proven themselves well on the labor market.

Thus, as part of a joint project with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, there was a meeting of NAQA with the Center for Quality Assessment of Higher Education (Republic of Lithuania) in June 2022. The participants continued the discussion of approaches to quality assurance in higher education, launched in April 2020. The OSCE supports cooperation between Ukrainian and Lithuanian agencies and promotes the development of relations between them (National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education, 2022).

We should also note that Moody's Lithuania, a strategic partner of the Vilnius University Business School, has provided more than 40,000 euros to support nine Ukrainians studying at the Business School, as provided for in the support agreement. This financial aid will allow Ukrainian students who have faced financial difficulties due to the war to continue their studies (Vilnius University, 2022).

The fact that Lithuania gives priority to Ukrainian universities is evidenced by the statement of the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ukraine Marius Janukonis during his visit to the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University.

The main goal of the visit was the intensification of academic exchanges between the universities of the two countries, in which the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania promises to provide assistance. Today, cooperation consists in the implementation of the Tempus project of the European Commission, which provides for the introduction of multilingual education at Ukrainian universities (Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, 2021).

Multilingualism is the use of several languages within a certain social community (primarily the state); the use by an individual (a group of people) of several languages, each of which is chosen according to a specific communicative situation (Ukrainian Language and Culture Portal, 2021).

As an example, it is appropriate to cite the signing of an agreement on long-term cooperation between Sumy State University and Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), which took place on June 30 in an online format.

The parties confirmed their intentions to deepen cooperation in the field of translation and linguistic studies, to implement joint educational and scientific projects in the fields of mechanical engineering, law, business, economics, management, chemical technologies, etc. (Sumy State University, 2022).

The cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is important regarding the unimpeded recognition by the Baltic states during the war of Ukrainian and foreign documents on education in the countries of the European Union.

In order to integrate Ukrainian children into the education system of European countries, in particular, the possibility of enrolling acquired knowledge, skills, assessments and mutual recognition in the education systems of EU countries and Ukraine, socialization of students, involvement of Ukrainian teachers who are outside Ukraine in EU countries, in the educational process Ministry of Education and Science, in cooperation with relevant departments of five countries, will create a working group on the synchronization of educational programs (Ukrinform, 2022). The parties confirmed their intentions to deepen cooperation in the field of translation and linguistic studies, to implement joint educational and scientific projects in the fields of mechanical engineering, law, business, economics, management, chemical technologies, etc. (Sumy State University, 2022).

Cooperation on the development of inclusive education in Ukraine is relevant. This issue was topical before the war, but today we have a rather urgent need to support a certain category of people who study according to inclusive methods.

The war exacerbated this problem, because it is much more difficult for persons with special needs to realize their right to education under conditions of occupation, direct military operations, or the impossibility of evacuation to safe regions.

The Law of Ukraine «On Education» states that inclusive education is a system of educational services guaranteed by the state, which is based on the principles of non-discrimination, consideration of the multifaceted nature of a person, effective involvement and inclusion of all its participants in the educational process (Law of Ukraine, 2017).

Tereza Aiduken, a specialist in the department of lifelong education at the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania, emphasized that the ideological direction for the implementation of inclusive education was taken immediately after the declaration of Lithuania's independence. One of the first laws was the law on education, which states that absolutely all children are capable of learning [https://nus.org.ua/articles/transformatsiya- spetsialnoyi-osvity-v-lytvi-yak-tse-vidbuvalosya-j- shho-ye-zaraz/].

Ukraine is trying to adopt the experience of training psychologists and special teachers, create projects and receive funding for the training of highly qualified personnel. Universities cooperate with regional educational support centers to retrain those teachers who currently work at secondary schools without leaving work.

Lithuania helps to resolve this issue with professional recommendations and financial investments, because difficulties in ensuring the proper level of inclusive education happen even today, and they have learned to overcome them by implementing high-quality modern educational methods at the level of national social policy.

Of course, we cannot forget that the war in Ukraine was preceded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the educational process at educational institutions of all levels. But the Ministry of Education and Science emphasized the digitization of the educational process and fruitful Ukrainian-Lithuanian cooperation in the field of higher education, as well as the participation of higher educational institutions of Ukraine and Lithuania in the projects of the Erasmus+ program and partnership in research projects between universities and scientific organizations even in a difficult pandemic period (New Ukrainian School, 2021).

Lithuania, through authorized persons, made and continues to make repeated statements condemning the military actions of the russian federation against the independent state of Ukraine.

At the Conference of Rectors of Lithuanian Universities, Professor Rimvydas Petrauskas, who is the president of the aforementioned Conference, notes that Lithuanian universities show solidarity with Ukrainian universities, their employees, teachers, students and the entire Ukrainian people and are ready to use all available resources in this difficult time to help Ukrainian universities. Also, our partners express their readiness to help Ukrainians who come to seek asylum in Lithuania, allowing them to continue their studies or research and settle in Lithuania for a shorter or longer period (Vilnius University, 2022).

ukraine lithuania educational scientific

Conclusions

So, today there are challenges in Ukraine to all spheres of society's life. The scientific and educational environment is not an exception, but rather, on the contrary, it needs support and stabilization the most, because we are talking about the young generation, the future of the nation, which needs quality and thorough knowledge and skills for the reconstruction and development of independent Ukraine after our victory over the aggressor.

In this difficult task, we receive strong support from international partners, in particular, the Republic of Lithuania, which not only continues scientific and educational partnership activities, implements joint agreements, carries out project and grant activities, but also provides invaluable assistance in the psychological and mental balance preservation of Ukrainian youth, children studying on its territory, or who are potential entrants.

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