- MAR
- 21
Teachers Paid to Teach “CrossRoads” in Ukraine
Posted By: admin
Because of the perseverance of youth and medical workers in Ukraine, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has approved the CrossRoads Life at the CrossRoads curriculum as an official elective for Ukrainian secondary schools. Teachers will therefore be paid to teach CrossRoads in the classroom.
This represents a tremendous leap forward in expanding the use of the CrossRoads strategy in Ukraine. The 30-lesson program teaches students strong character and how to make life-affirming choices, thus avoiding personal, and eventually societal, consequences like HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol addiction, teen pregnancy, and suicide.
The MOE approved the Life at the CrossRoads curriculum for use in public schools in Ukraine in 2003. However, it was not included on the list of electives that teachers would be paid to teach. Since, in the Ukrainian school system, secondary school teachers are paid for each course they teach, only a small percentage of CrossRoads-trained teachers have had the opportunity to teach the program. However, the recent decision by the MOE gives the curriculum “facultative” status, meaning teachers will now be compensated for teaching it.
“As far as we know, this decision by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to give us facultative approval is unprecedented,” says Rich Leary, CrossRoads Coordinator for Ukraine. “Because it is such an excellent curriculum and because now teachers will be paid to teach it, we anticipate a huge increase in demand for CrossRoads training conferences in Ukraine.”
