Ukraine plans to hold competition of Defense of Ukraine centers
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is holding a public discussion of the draft rules for the All-Ukrainian Competition of Study Centers for the Academic Subject "Defense of Ukraine."
"The purpose of adopting this act is to regulate the procedures for organizing and conducting the All-Ukrainian Competition of Study Centers for the Academic Subject ‘Defense of Ukraine,’ to define uniform approaches to participation, evaluation, and awarding of participants, and to create conditions for improving the quality of national-patriotic and military-patriotic education of education seekers, developing their civic identity, defense awareness, practical skills in safe behavior, first aid, and preparedness for action in crisis and emergency situations," the ministry said.
The project envisages that the competition will be held annually and will be held in three stages.
In particular, the first stage is in institutions of general secondary, specialized, vocational, professional pre-higher education, interschool resource centers, where Centers for the study of the academic subject "Defense of Ukraine" have been created; the second stage (regional, republican, city) - in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regions, the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol; the third stage (final) is all-Ukrainian.
The competition program includes the following areas: pre-medical training in combat conditions (tactical medicine); individual weapons handling skills, shooting (simulation) training; UAV piloting; tactical group actions to practice teamwork; overcoming an obstacle course; terrain orientation; tabletop wargame.
As reported, by the end of 2025, two-thirds of high school students (64%) were enrolled in Defense of Ukraine training centers. The goal is to reach all high school students by 2027. Also, starting in 2027, students will be able to choose advanced specialized modules in drone control, engineering, cybersecurity, and other areas.
