KYIV – On June 22, 2010, in Kyiv, at the meeting of the Public Council on Cooperation with Churches and Religious Organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, a national program for the moral and spiritual education of school children "Basics of Christian Ethics" was unanimously accepted. As reports the Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), this was made possible by the efforts of the working group that was made up of representatives of the traditional Ukrainian Churches and educationalists.

To finally receive approval from the Ministry of Education necessary documents are being collected, scholars and teachers are being reviewed, and academic councils are meeting. "We want to make Christian ethics a school subject because currently it is not an official subject. Through the Public Council we continuously try to resolve another problem – the necessity to classify the position of a Christian ethics teacher as an official job. Because an educational institution can not prepare a teacher for subject that does not exist," stresses the head of the Commission of the UGCC on Matters of Primary Education Fr. Ivan Hnativ.

The advancements of the Lviv specialists, who for already more than 20 years work by their own system, will be the basis of the national school course on Christian ethics. In their work, the specialists are joined by scholars and theologians from the Ukrainian Catholic University, Ostroh Academy National University, Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and the Hrinchenko University. Intensive work on textbooks has begun.

"We actually have already started. We are gathering on June 28-30 in Truskavets. We are organizing a three-day meeting for all of the authors and co-authors who will write the textbooks. It is a small group of 10-12 people, because a small group will work better. We want to determine the method of writing, the conception, the structure," says Fr. Ivan Gnativ. According to him, if this is not done now, the next school year could be lost, and that would be impermissible because the question is about the moral and spiritual education of the young generation of the country. More information about this will be found in an interview with the head of the Commission of the UGCC on Matters of Primary Education, which soon will appear on our site.