On 16 December 2025, the project “Inclusive Vocational Education and Training (VET): Improving Training for Veterans and People with Disabilities” was launched online as part of the Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery. The event brought together representatives of VET providers from different regions of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, the State Employment Service, international organisations, and civil society.
The full-scale invasion has dramatically increased the number of people with disabilities, including combat veterans and civilians who have suffered injuries and trauma. In this context, the vocational education and training system is facing a new demand: to be ready to admit, support, and provide quality education to learners with different types of disabilities, including psychosocial disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The new project aims to address these challenges.
Inclusive VET as a Priority for the Country’s Recovery
In her welcoming speech, Sophie Meinke, Skills4Recovery Implementation Team Lead (GIZ), emphasized that investing in inclusive education is part of Ukraine’s sustainable recovery:
“The Skills4Recovery project aims to develop inclusive vocational education in Ukraine. Through practical training and support for VET providers, it helps participants acquire relevant skills for working in the current environment, with a particular focus on the needs of people with disabilities, veterans, and women.”
Till Küster, CBM Director Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Representative of the Ukraine Country Office, also addressed the participants with a welcoming speech:
“The partnership between CBM, the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD), and local organisations allows us to combine international experience with the real needs of vocational and training institutions in Ukraine. Together, we transfer practical inclusive solutions, strengthen teams of teachers and administrators, create an accessible educational environment, and reinforce the link between education and the labour market. This alliance opens up opportunities for systemic change — from methodologies and curricula to advocacy for sustainable solutions across the entire VET system.”
Iryna Shumik, Director General of the Directorate for Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, also spoke to the participants:
“Our common task is to work together with partners and educational institutions to learn from the best practices, understand them, and adapt them to the Ukrainian context at a high level of quality. It should result in creating conditions in which everyone in Ukraine will have real access to vocational education and professional qualifications,” stated Iryna Shumik.
“Vocational education and training is not just about accessible premises and special equipment. It is, above all, a change in approach: equality, respect for individual needs, and the creation of an environment in VET institutions where people not only gain knowledge but also the confidence to take the next step towards independence and employment. Our task is to ensure that inclusion in VET providers is not a formality but a daily practice,” emphasised Viktoriia Nazarenko, Secretary General of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD).
What Does the Inclusive VET Project Aim to Achieve?
Svitlana Petrusha, Project Coordinator (NAPD), presented the key components of the initiative. The project includes:
- A training of trainers (ToT) programme for teachers and administrative teams of VET providers, focusing on inclusive methods of working with learners with disabilities and PTSD. By the end of the project, 100 participants from 18 VET institutions will have completed the training.
- Supervisory support for the implementation of inclusive approaches: each institution will receive online consultations and face-to-face visits, as well as thematic chat groups for the exchange of experience.
- Development and dissemination of a practical guide on inclusive vocational education and training — the resource will be distributed among 40 institutions.
- Training on providing inclusive first aid during emergencies and PTSD-related crisis situations: 36 participants from 18 institutions will undergo training, and 40 institutions will receive an online brochure.
- Training on organising inclusive information campaigns for VET providers: 36 participants from 18 institutions will take part in the training, and an online brochure will be provided to 40 institutions.
“For many veterans and people with disabilities, vocational education is an important part of recovery and returning to an active life. Our task is to help VET providers create conditions where every student not only gains knowledge, but also feels secure, respected, and has real opportunities for future employment,” said Svitlana Petrusha, Project Coordinator (NAPD).
Discussion Focusing on Challenges and Practical Solutions
During the panel discussion, moderator Maha Khochen-Bagshaw, CBM Global Inclusive Education Advisor, asked the speakers to answer questions about what currently prevents veterans and people with disabilities from accessing and fully participating in vocational education and training, as well as what changes they expect from this project.
In their speeches, inclusive education experts Natalia Sofiy and Halyna Kossova-Silina outlined the key challenges faced by veterans, persons with disabilities, and VET providers. These include:
- fragmented support and the lack of a harmonised mechanism for interagency coordination among education, social services, and healthcare, which causes confusion regarding different support tools (in particular, between individual development programmes and individual rehabilitation programmes);
- limited accessibility of infrastructure, where accessibility is often reduced merely to a ramp at the entrance, while lifts, sanitary rooms, dormitories, as well as information and social accessibility, remain problematic;
- lack of clear methodologies and recommendations, forcing teachers and administrators to act by trial and error, without clear guidelines on adaptations for different categories of people with disabilities and veterans;
- lack of the preparedness among staff to respond to health emergencies and psychological crises and to act in emergency situations (in particular, during evacuation);
- lack of continuity between the training stage and subsequent support in the labour market — weak interaction among VET providers, employers, and employment services;
- insufficient involvement of people with disabilities and veterans in VET communication campaigns; and
- lack of staff support — assistants for teachers, masters and students, as well as fully-operational support teams — despite the fact that the legislation provides for such mechanisms.
Representatives of VET providers — Tetiana Kolesnyk and Valeriia Koval — shared their motivation for joining the project and outlined the gaps they seek to address: insufficient development of support services for students with disabilities and veterans, the lack of practical tools for teachers, and the need for clear procedures for working with students with psychosocial disorders and PTSD.
Participants cited examples of people with disabilities and veterans who, despite their age, injuries, or difficult life circumstances, are actively learning new professions — from sewing ethnic clothing to skilled trades, such as lathe operation.
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).