The Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Opened with the Presentation of International Research on the Role of Education in Shaping Personality, National Social Capital,[...]

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The Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen "Education Shaping the World," initiated by First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, has begun in Kyiv.

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First Ladies and Gentlemen from six countries arrived at the event: Doris Schmidauer (Austria), Bo Tengberg (Denmark), Sirje Karis (Estonia), Suzanne Innes-Stubb (Finland), Elke Büdenbender (Germany), and Diana Nausėdienė (Lithuania).

"Let me thank all of you for the difficult decision many of you made to come here - to a country at war. I want you to know that today you are not only taking part in a major diplomatic event, a visionary discussion, you are helping us Ukrainians feel that life, in its normal sense, goes on," the First Lady of Ukraine said in her speech.

On the first day of the Summit, the international research "Education as a Tool for Shaping Personal Resilience, National Social Capital, and a Culture of Peace" was presented.

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The survey was conducted with the participation of Ukrainian and international partners and experts in 14 countries: Austria, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Mexico, the UAE, South Africa, the United States, Türkiye, Ukraine, Finland, the Czech Republic, and Japan. The research covered three target audiences: teachers, students, and parents. About 200 schoolchildren aged 15-17, 100 teachers, and 100 parents took part in the survey in each of the countries.

"We deliberately placed the research at the very beginning of the Summit so that all of us would have more information and insights to rely on in the subsequent discussions," said Olena Zelenska.

According to the research findings, what children expect most from a teacher is fair treatment (32%) and support and respect (31%).

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Ukrainian students consider the most valuable qualities of a teacher during the war to be the ability to provide support (58%) and an understanding of life circumstances (56%). Thirty-one percent of surveyed Ukrainian teenagers feel anxiety or fear during their studies and need special attention and psychological support. The need for psychological support for students is one of Ukraine's key appeals to the international community at this Summit.

Regarding the skills that school helps to develop, 40% of students named creative thinking, 38% - attentiveness and responsibility, 32% - the ability to work in a team and emotional stability, and 31% - motivation and self-awareness. Among Ukrainian teenagers, 79% of respondents believe that school should be a center of national-patriotic education, and 44% take part in volunteer and socially useful projects.

Teachers cited low pay (46%), heavy workloads and exhaustion (41%), and lack of respect from students and parents (39%) as the biggest problems they face in their work.

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Parents consider the key functions of education to be preparing young people for independent and successful adult life (45%) and acquiring knowledge and skills for future employment (34%).

One of the notable trends in education is the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the survey results, 22% of students and 24% of teachers frequently use AI in their studies and work.

When asked what can contribute to fostering a culture of peace, the most common responses from students were: developing empathy, tolerance, and respect for different opinions (37%); learning peaceful conflict resolution (37%); and human rights education (34%).

The results of the research were discussed during a ministerial dialogue. The discussion was attended by Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi, Minister for Higher Education and Science of Denmark Christina Egelund, Federal Minister for Education of Austria Christoph Wiederkehr, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia Triin Laasi-Õige, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland Andrzej Szeptycki, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Latvia Dāvis Mārtiņš Daugavietis, and Vice-Minister for General Education of Lithuania Jonas Petkevičius. The dialogue was moderated by Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD.

The research was designed and conducted by the Centre for Social change and Behavioural economics in cooperation with Deloitte, with the contribution of the OECD, and with support from Education Cannot Wait, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).