Vocational schools in different regions of Ukraine will be teaching a new profession – “Operator of Remotely Piloted Vehicles” or simply: civilian drone operator. And it all started with the initiative of the Department of Education and Science of the Lviv Regional State Administration
Back in 2022, this idea was proposed to the EU Delegation in our country and it was accepted. This is emphasized in the Lviv Regional State Administration.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine agreed on an interregional working group that developed the basis for the new profession. In particular, they managed to create three curricula: initial vocational training, course training, and group work.
The first to introduce the profession were vocational schools in Lviv and Dnipro regions. Later, five more educational institutions in Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions joined the program.
The EU Delegation purchased 28 drones and organized training for 14 teachers, who are now passing on the knowledge to students.
In our region, this profession, along with others, can already be acquired in two vocational education institutions.
At this stage, we have approved a professional standard that describes the requirements for the competencies of future drone operators. An educational standard is on the way. We hope that after the institutions successfully pass the licensing process, students will be able to study this profession as a major starting this fall.
We plan to train civilian drone operators in three more vocational education institutions in Lviv region.
“The civilian drone operator is an extremely important and relevant specialty, as people will be able to operate drones for demining; assessing the damage caused to infrastructure and the ecosystem by the war; monitoring the condition of agricultural and forest lands; and media coverage. And this is not a complete list of opportunities. I am grateful to the Ministry of Education and Science and the EU Delegation to Ukraine for supporting really important educational changes,” said Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Education Agency.