After one year of membership as an observer state, Ukraine has joined the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe as a fully-fledged member state.
“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reconfirmed the need to change approaches and practices in history teaching, the importance of implementing changes to curricula and historiography, as these will determine our future over the next decades. Reforms of history teaching in Europe are crucial for European security, particularly at a time when global peace is under threat. We believe membership of OHTE will provide unique opportunities to discuss the link between history teaching and the teaching of peace.” stated Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, in a letter addressed to the Council of Europe’s Secretary General.
As an Observer State that joined the OHTE on 1 June 2023, Ukraine was included in part of the research led by the OHTE on the state of history teaching in Europe and published in the form of a report. A country sheet summarising Ukraine’s history teaching is available in its second volume.
“Our mutual desire for cooperation is now tangible and I know that all the statutory bodies and the OHTE Secretariat are eager to further strengthen our joint work, even in this continuing context of unpredictability for your country. More than ever, the presence of Ukraine in our work strengthens the credibility of the fight against the manipulation of history and reaffirms the idea that quality history teaching is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of a democratic culture in our European society” said Alain Lamassoure, Chair of the OHTE Governing Board, in his congratulatory letter to Mychajlo Wynnyckyi, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The importance of enlarging the Observatory’s membership was highlighted on numerous occasions during OHTE’s Annual Conferences. Membership of a greater number of countries in the work of the Observatory will enable a more complete and inspiring picture of the state of history teaching in Europe.
