The Olympic Academy of Ukraine shows us how it’s done: the dissemination and integration of Olympic values in the national education system. With the project “The All-Ukrainian Network of Olympic Education Schools”, they have committed for many years and the initiative acts as a blueprint for other National Olympic Academies.
The Jury of the EOA Flame Awards evaluated all submitted projects based on a number of different criteria. In the first award ceremony in 2023, the Olympic Academy of Ukraine won with its project “The All-Ukrainian Network of Olympic Education Schools” in the Olympic Education category.
The School of Olympic Education is a Ukrainian project dedicated to the dissemination, implementation and integration of Olympic values into the national school system. A cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Ukraine on Education and Science, the NOC of Ukraine and the Olympic Academy of Ukraine was concluded for the realisation of the idea.
Anything revolving around the Olympic Movement, such as the Olympic values, are not only part of the curriculum in PE lessons, but the history behind the Olympic Movement or renowned personalities are also a topic in subjects such as history, geography, foreign languages and other subjects.
The project is also committed to the extracurricular implementation of values in the everyday lives of pupils and their parents. Sport-educational and developmental projects, as well as art and cultural competitions, are intended to strengthen the anchoring of the historical, cultural and social values of the Olympic Movement.
In 2023, the results of the project could be admired at the Olympic Day. The annual Olympic Days, the Olympic Lessons and the Olympic Weeks are just a few examples of what the project has successfully achieved.
By researching the Olympic Movement, its important personalities and its history, the pupils of the participating schools acquire a great deal of knowledge and can display it in museums or installations on the school campuses. For example, collected artefacts fill corridors called “Angel of Sports” in the schools.
Teachers, on the other hand, can read up on a wide range of material provided by the Olympic Academy of Ukraine relating to the Olympic Movement, such as curricula, teaching aids for teachers, encyclopaedias, educational and information literature for pupils, literature for pre-school and primary school children, Olympic diaries and Olympic poster sets.
The implementation of the 15-year project has been so successful that self-governing bodies of pupils, such as pupil committees, have been elected at the 313 participating schools. With the help of teachers, they are dedicated to integrating sport into school life, but also into the everyday life of the students, and to the dissemination of the Olympic values and the concept of fair play.
The EOA Flame Award will be presented to the winner during the EOA Congress Vilnius on 8th November 2023.
