Phenomenon of Ukrainian Language Proficiency at the Heart of Kyiv

February 4 marked the awards ceremony of the third stage of the Petro Jacyk International Ukrainian Language Contest for Kyiv students representing educational institutions of all accreditation levels. The ceremony was held at the Kyiv Teacher’s House, with awards going to sixteen students from educational institutions of the first and second accreditation levels and thirteen students from educational institutions of the third and fourth accreditation levels. A dozen more students received incentive prizes. The list of prizewinners is quite long: Yana Kahel, Serhiy Shvets, Mykyta Dmytriyev, Kateryna Furtas, Valeriya Semenova, Nataliya Kukharenko, Nataliya Lobas, Olha Pytiur, Liliya Linnyk, Volodymyr Bondarenko, to name but a few.

The board of directors of Kyiv educational institutions of the first and second accreditation levels appealed to Mykhailo Slaboshpytsky, Executive Director of the Ukrainian League of Philanthropists, to honor the teachers “for their selfless devotion to the cause of teaching the Ukrainian language.” As a result, awards went to eight pedagogues, namely Tayisiya Burlak, Alla Kabanenko (the best part of the audience greeted her appearance with standing applause), Olena Kolesnykova, Olena Nevolina, Viktor Umansky, Halyna Trehubova, Antonina Movchun, and Nataliya Hayevska.

Tellingly, the overwhelming majority of award-winning students and teachers were females. The question arises: why are men ruling the country? One more phenomenon, namely the assembly room packed with Ukrainian-speaking youth at the heart of Kyiv, deserves special mention. Ironically, in this twelfth year of independence, such facts in the life of the Ukrainian capital never cease to amaze one. The awards ceremony to mark the contest finalists, fourth through tenth palces, will be held on March 9, while winners, first through third places, will be honored on May 22 in the Opera House.