Following its exclusion for much of the Soviet era, ORT returned to Ukraine in the early 1990s. In August 2000, ORT and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine signed a memorandum to formalize cooperation in the fields of general, elementary and secondary professional education. The first ORT school opened in Kyiv shortly after this point.
Since then ORT has made a major impact on the quality of its Jewish schools in the country and subsequently on the Jewish communities in which those schools are located, providing Jewish people with excellence in education for all ages from pre-school to the elderly.
ORT has previously operated KesherNet centers, predominantly supporting unemployed women into employment, as well as an education center in Kyiv and a technology center in Dnipro.
Courses developed by ORT Ukraine’s RND facility are officially recognized and approved by the country’s Ministry of Education. These include online courses, webinars, online educational platforms and more.
Since February 2022 and the start of the conflict, ORT Ukraine and World ORT have supported students to continue their education irrespective of the circumstances they and their families face.
Countless professionals and volunteers have worked tirelessly to provide wide-ranging support including logistical, humanitarian and financial aid.
The situation in the country remained hugely uncertain as of July 2023, with significant ongoing threats to infrastructure hampering a return to in-person education options in a number of cities.
Read how Ukraine has been affected