From April 13 to 20, 2024, Nataliia Ivanova, DEFEP Project Manager from the National University of Chernihiv Polytechnic, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, visited the Republic of Estonia as part of a working visit at the invitation of the Board of Education and Youth (HARNO) within the framework of the project “Stairway to Excellence: Strengthening an Effective and Robust Higher Education System in Ukraine”.

During the visit, representatives of Ukrainian higher education got acquainted with the best practices for strengthening an effective and sustainable higher education system based on the experience of Estonia, in particular, they studied the experience of implementing e-learning in Estonian universities; discussed current educational and scientific issues and challenges related to the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine; exchanged knowledge and experience with representatives of universities and research institutions of the Republic of Estonia.

Estonia is one of the leaders in the EU in implementing e-learning and distance learning in general. In order to increase the productivity of the DEFEP project, in particular WP7 “Methodologies for ensuring quality of education and academic integrity”, we discussed the peculiarities of this process in the Estonian higher education system with Liia Lauri, Assessment Director of the Estonian Quality Agency for Education, within the framework of the Workshop “QA of Digital Higher Education in Estonia; Quality Label of e-courses”.

Taking this opportunity, N. Ivanova presented the DEFEP project during a face-to-face meeting with the faculty of the Estonian Business School, with whom they also exchanged experience in implementing distance education.

During the meeting with the chairman and members of the Higher Education Support Group of the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia, they discussed the importance of further cooperation and emphasized the special support for the Ukrainian higher education sector in the regions bordering the aggressor country.

The DEFEP project is co-financed by the European Union, but the views and opinions expressed are those of the authors of this project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture. Neither the European Union nor the grantor can be held responsible for them.