Exhibition remembers Ukrainian students who will never graduate, while Kerry hosts students sitting Ukrainian school-leavers’ exams.
“Unissued Diplomas” honours the memory of Ukrainian students who will never graduate because their lives were taken by the Russian invasion.
“These are heart-breaking photos because these are diplomas that were issued for students who will never receive them,” says Olya Marynetseva, development worker with North East West Kerry Development (NEWKD). The exhibition was held recently in Kerry and Cork.
It shows unissued diplomas including photographs of 40 students who were killed either on the front lines or in their homes.
Last year, the exhibition was held on 110 university campuses in 24 countries.
Olya brought the exhibition to Kerry on behalf of NEWKD and in co-ordination with Michael Hall from Munster Technological University (MTU). It then moved on to Kilkenny.
Elsewhere, Tralee welcomed hundreds of students and accompanying parents from every county in Ireland to sit the Ukrainian version of the Leaving Certificate over the first two weeks in June.
North East West Kerry Development (NEWKD) liaised with the Department of Education in Ukraine to host the country’s National Multisubject Test (NMT) for 436 young Ukrainians living here.
Since the invasion, the Ukrainian Department of Education has facilitated Ukrainians to take the exam in the countries that they fled to and to date this has included Ireland. However, NEWKD development worker Olya Marynetseva realised that no venue had been organised for Ireland this year. She alerted Ukraine’s Department of Education to the issue and this led to Tralee becoming the venue for the tests in Ireland.
NEWKD staff underwent training prescribed by Ukraine’s education department regarding protocols to ensure the integrity of the exam. It was hosted by Munster Technological University on its Tralee campus.
