Students from Austin O'Brien High School
4 October 2018-Representing the Ukrainian Language Education Centre (ULEC) at CIUS, Drs. Alla Nedashkivska and Olenka Bilash took part in a celebration of student achievements and successes organized by the Ukrainian Bilingual Parents' Advisory Society (UBPAS) of Alberta.
The president of the association, Marian Gauk, reported on growing enrollments in the program and various initiatives undertaken by the UBPAS during the past year. The celebration was attended by many students, parents, educators, and administrators. Several students from the Ukrainian bilingual programs in Alberta were acknowledged and honoured for their accomplishments in Ukrainian studies, and Ukrainian language learning in particular.
ULEC is proud of its involvement in the organization of international Ukrainian language assessment for bilingual program students in Alberta, similar to such exams given for other international languages. Thanks to the efforts of Alberta educators, the Alberta Ukrainian Learning Association (AULA), and the Ukrainian language Education Consortium (ULECON), and with the support of the UPBAS, the Ukrainian Language Certification Exam has been offered to students in grades 11 and 12 of Alberta's Ukrainian bilingual programs since 2006.
This year the exam was taken by twenty-two Alberta students, all of them attending Austin O'Brien High School in Edmonton. Ms. Daria Porochiwnyk, their incredible Ukrainian teacher and a very experienced and dedicated educator, is to be congratulated for her students' success! As the primary organizer of the exam, ULEC would also like to acknowledge Ms. Olena Sivachenko, ULEC's research associate, for taking the lead role in this endeavour. The exam was administered and adjudicated in collaboration with our university partners in Ukraine (the Preparatory School for International Students and the department of Ukrainian Applied Linguistics at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv) and with the assistance of Ms. Natalia Nayavko, a Ukrainian language and culture advisor in the Alberta Ministry of Education. Ms. Nayavko facilitated and conducted the oral part of the exam.
Importantly, this exam provides our students with international credentials for their studies of Ukrainian. 2018 was a particularly special year: all twenty-two students who took the exam passed it. Eighteen of them obtained a score of 80% or higher, which means that they are considered adequately prepared to take university courses in Ukraine.
The students who passed the exam were awarded certificates from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, confirming their level of language competency. During the UBPAS award ceremony, Ms. Porochiwnyk pointed out how beneficial this exam is for students' future: "Successful completion of the exam not only acknowledges student competency in the language, it opens still more doors of opportunity, whether in choosing a post-secondary course of studies or pursuing a career. I think the students feel very accomplished."
In collaboration with all our partners, teachers, and students, we at ULEC hope to continue making this significant educational milestone available to our Alberta students, providing them with opportunities to gain tangible life and career skills.
Congratulations to All!