Who We Are

2012

2016

2022

2012

Batkivskyi Kontrol

It all started back in 2012 with Batkivskyi Kontrol (Parental Control) initiative. Journalists Ivanna Kobernyk, Zoia Zvyniatskivska, Oksana Makarenko and Halyna Tytysh found the quality of schoolbooks very poor and decided to try and solve the problem with available means — public discussions, explosive texts, and media stories.

2016

Several years later…

New team of education sector officials arrived in the Ministry, and many of our initiatives have since been woven into the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform.

The reform’s values coincide with the vision of our members; two of our co-founders moved on to become advisors to Education and Science Minister Lilia Hrynevych.

2022

For the last 6 years we have been facilitating online workshops and trainings for teachers, developing general lesson plan samples, and helping teachers understand and incorporate the new changes to the educational system in Ukraine.

We continue to work with teachers by providing workshops on emotional resilience, organizing webinars with professional development opportunities, and providing legal advise.

For the last few month our main focus has been on children:

we facilitate free every day online classes with teachers from Ukraine and around the world;
help children study for the National Multi Subject Test;
open centers with free extra curricular activities in Ukraine and abroad;
provide opportunities for free English speaking classes;
organize free summer classes to help catch up with the school program.

What’s Next

We believe that the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform is a huge achievement and a solid foundation for our society’s progress. The reform is designed to create new senses and values of development, respect, child-centrism, and innovation.

Our job is to support the reform and help parents, teachers, and students actively participate in the learning process.

Our mission is to create new social norms and values, including those in education sector, for the purpose of high-quality transformation of Ukraine into a society with European values.

Founders Team

We love what we do, and do it with passion

Halyna Tytysh

Head of Smart Osvita

Halyna is a founder and former chief editor of Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia website, and former communications advisor to EDGE project (National Office for Deinstitutionalization Reform Support).

Ivanna Kobernyk

Co-founder of Smart Osvita

Since April 2016, Ivanna has acted as advisor to Education & Science Minister Lilia Hrynevych, and member of Education & Science Ministry reforms office and New Ukrainian School Concept creators’ team. Ivanna coauthored the Ministry’s communication strategy and online course titled “Efficient communications for education sector managers.”

Zoia Zvyniatskivska

Expert

Zoia is the founder of Batkivskyi Kontrol organization and expert in education and fashion sectors.

Oksana Makarenko

Cofounder of Smart Osvita

Co-author of the “New Ukrainian School” concept. She worked on the implementation of the communication strategy of the reform of general secondary education, the law “On Education” and in working groups under the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Digital Affairs on the creation of a new educational environment, the development of STEM education, IT education and digital solutions for distance learning. Co-author of the program for improving the qualifications of teaching staff to improve psychological self-help skills: “Development of psychological resilience of teachers and schoolchildren resettled from war-affected areas.”
Member of the board of the Department of Education and Science of the executive body of the Kyiv City Council (Kyiv City State Administration). From April 2016 to April 2020, she was a member of the reform office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, an adviser to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.