ESTDEV to renovate hobby school and develop new educational programme in Malyn, Ukraine

According to Kristi Kulu, ESTDEV's programme manager for Education, the Malyn Hobby School project will also support aligning Ukraine’s hobby education with EU guidelines and regulations. “Ensuring hobby education meets European standards is not just an opportunity for Ukraine but a strategic step. This opens the doors to international cooperation and experience exchange, which increases the overall quality of hobby education in Ukraine,” said Kulu.

Kulu added that supporting hobby education in Ukraine is not only about filling free time for children and young people but also developing their skills and providing a refuge from war. Kulu noted that Estonia's experience shows how a robust extracurricular education system helps cultivate creative, innovative and digitally competent citizens. “These young people are ready for the challenges of the 21st century. For Ukraine, this is an opportunity to combine its rich cultural heritage with modern skills, thus creating a strong foundation for the future,” said Kulu.

While general education schools have continued their activities during the Russian war of aggression, extracurricular classes and programmes have been interrupted.

According to ESTDEV's head of Cooperation and Development for Ukraine, Margus Gering, “the Malyn hobby school project will feature a new approach to organising activities in hobby schools and offer training and consulting programmes to educational workers and Malyn city officials, in addition to renovating a building damaged by the war.”

Gering said it is important that citizens have positive, inspiring experiences, even in wartime, to give them hope and the strength to move forward. He said Estonia’s support is one way to assure Ukrainians they are not alone in this war.

Photo: signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Malyn Hobby School. Oleksandr Sitailo, Mayor of Malyn, and Vitalii Bunyetsko, Governor of the Zhytomyr Oblast and Andrea Kivi, Head of Operations at ESTDEV.

Two years ago, the Malyn Hobby School requested new musical instruments for the school, as theirs had been destroyed in a Russian bomb attack. In response, Delfi Meedia donated the instruments to the hobby school in lieu of company Christmas gifts. At the time, Argo Virkebau, chairman of the board of Delfi Meedia, said that with small steps like these, children and adults could regain a sense of security and return to everyday life.

Photo: Delfi Meedia donated the instruments to the Malyn Hobby School.