On November 22, 2016 the working meeting of the Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service Konstantin Vashchenko with the representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, aimed at discussion of the issue of strengthening cooperation on improving language proficiency of civil servants, was held.

The Head of the NAUCS in his opening speech mentioned that one of the priorities of the NAUCS was public administration and civil service reform. However, it was noted that a prerequisite of effective implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” was a professional development of civil servants, including language learning.

The Counselor for Public Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Karen Robblee outlined the priority areas of the Embassy and the Regional English Language Office in the context of improving language proficiency, particularly she presented the main achievements of programmes and grants implementation, including Programmes of distance learning of English and professional development.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine on European Integration Mykola Movchan emphasized the necessity of finding common solution of the issue of certification of students of foreign language learning courses.

NATO–Ukraine Professional Development Programme Manager Ove Urup-Madsen stressed the importance of identifying the institutions responsible for implementation of language training for civil servants in Ukraine and facilitating strengthening its institutional capacity.

Cultural Affairs Assistant of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Lilia Shylo and Director of Advanced Training Centre of Foreign Languages of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Olena Medvedieva also took part in the event.

As a result of the working meeting the participants agreed on the issue of strengthening cooperation within the framework of organization of language training, particularly to develop specialized training programmes as well as to establish distance learning and effective system of foreign language proficiency assessment.