On 18 June, the Council of Europe Project "HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime", in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Commission for Legal Education and Awareness, presented the Strategy for the Implementation of HELP Courses in the Educational Process of Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions.

Over 350 representatives of higher education institutions took part in the presentation. The Ministry of Education and Science recommended that higher education institutions familiarise with the Strategy and, on the basis of its recommendations, introduce online HELP courses into the educational process and promote the dissemination of information about available online courses among the teachers and students, especially in legal studies.

Mykhaylo Wynnyckyj, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, stressed the importance of introducing HELP courses in the educational process and noted that the recently adopted law on individual educational trajectories forms the basis for recognising HELP courses and credits earned outside the educational program.

Yulia Hryshyna, Chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, President of the NGO "Commission for Legal Education and Awareness" addressed the participants of the presentation and noted: "Dear colleagues, I urge you to support this initiative and actively participate in the implementation of HELP courses in your universities. Together we will be able to provide our students with the best educational opportunities and contribute to the development of the legal system of Ukraine in accordance with European standards."

Ana-Maria Telbis, Head a.i. of the  Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Directorate-General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (DGI), Council of Europe reminded the participants that the mandate of the HELP Programme is based on the CM Recommendations  of 2004 and 2019, which call upon the Council of Europe Member States to create the necessary framework for relevant training on the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the ECtHR to be included in the framework of university education  as well as in the framework of continuous training of judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

Olga Kostenko, International Project Manager, presented the methodology of the Council of Europe HELP Programme and the results of the HELP Project's work for Ukraine on cooperation with universities.

The Strategy for implementing HELP courses in the educational process of higher education institutions of Ukraine was developed by the Project "HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime" and the NGO "Commission for Legal Education and Awareness". The co-authors of the Strategy Oleksandr Pyzhov, Chair of the Senate of the NGO "Commission for Legal Education and Awareness" and Serhiy Mudruk, Member of the Senate of the NGO "Commission on Legal Education and Awareness" presented the document and the main tools for the implementation of HELP courses for universities.

The Strategy provides specific recommendations for the further development and improvement of the process of integrating HELP courses into the educational process. The document contains a description of HELP courses and regulations in the field of non-formal education, as well as an overview of existing practices for the implementation of HELP courses by law teachers and the practice of recognition of learning outcomes obtained through non-formal and/or informal education in higher education.

Ukrainian universities are already actively using HELP courses in the educational process. In particular, universities include the courses in the curriculum of the discipline instead of other types of individual work, the teachers recommend HELP courses as additional literature and resources for deepening the knowledge. In addition, the completion of HELP courses replaces the writing of essays or other work, and is counted as practical training for students or is used to obtain additional points.

The Strategy contains the proposals for further development and improvement of the process of integrating HELP courses into the educational process, in particular:

• Inclusion of these courses as compulsory or optional educational components;
• Integration of HELP courses into educational programs;
• Development of additional training materials to contextualise existing courses;
• Organisation of specialised curricula, trainings and workshops that will complement the main courses and contribute to a deeper understanding of the material.

Other important factors in the implementation of the courses include raising awareness and involving students in the HELP courses through the use of social media and university websites to disseminate information about the courses, the creation of human rights-oriented student groups or clubs, and interactive activities that include case studies, discussion clubs, summer and winter schools.

During the event, Krystyna Khokhlova, Project Coordinator of the Council of Europe HELP Programme, presented the experiences and results of implementing HELP courses at universities around the world.

Experienced university teachers and active HELP tutors shared their experiences of active implementation of courses at their universities, in particular, Alla Fedorova, PHD in Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Comparative and European Law of the Educational and Research Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; Andriy Medvid, Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Theory of State and Law of Lviv University of Trade and Economics, and Olena Makeieva, PHD in Law, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of the National Aviation University.

• Strategy for the implementation of HELP courses in the educational process of higher education institutions of Ukraine (in Ukrainian).
• The presentations can be downloaded here.
• The video of the event can be viewed at this link (Passcode:  7D?EUDp8)