Interregional Academy of Personnel Management

On 31 March 2026, the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (IAPM) in Kyiv hosted the national seminar “Quality of Psychological Education: Challenges of the Time and Development Prospects,” bringing together leading experts in higher education, representatives of public authorities, scholars, and practitioners. The event was organised with the participation of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance and served as an important platform for professional dialogue on the pressing issues of training psychologists in Ukraine amid the growing societal demand for mental health services.

The seminar was opened by the President of IAPM, Rostyslav Shchokin, who emphasised the strategic importance of developing high-quality psychological education in the context of contemporary challenges, particularly those related to the ongoing war and the increasing need for systematic mental health support. In his remarks, he underlined that higher education institutions must play a ключову роль in training a new generation of professionals capable of working in crisis conditions and responding effectively to real societal needs. The Head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Andrii Butenko, highlighted the importance of improving the quality of educational programmes, strengthening accreditation mechanisms, and enhancing the alignment between education and the labour market.

During the first session, participants addressed the issue of training specialists in the field of mental health as a key priority of public policy. Anastasiia Holotenko, an expert of the Coordination Centre for Mental Health under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, presented approaches to developing a modern system of training psychologists within the framework of the national mental health programme “How are you?”, emphasising the importance of integrating practical competencies into curricula. At the same time, the Head of the State Service of Education Quality of Ukraine, Ruslan Hurak, focused on the specific features of training students in the specialty “Psychology,” outlining key challenges related to compliance of educational programmes with modern standards, the quality of practical training, and the need to strengthen their orientation toward real labour market demands. Considerable attention was also paid to staffing issues in psychology programmes, as noted by Andrii Butenko, as well as to graduate employability and the development of relevant professional standards.

A separate block of the seminar was devoted to the external evaluation of educational programmes. The Deputy Head of the National Agency, Olena Yeremenko, presented a summary of accreditation results for psychology programmes and outlined key trends in quality assurance in higher education. Participants also discussed the relevance of educational programmes to employability, the need to update professional standards, and the transition from formal student participation to genuine partnership in quality assurance processes.

The second part of the event focused on practical aspects of designing educational programmes. The Director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Psychology and Social Sciences at IAPM, Yana Raievska, presented the Academy’s experience in developing effective educational programmes in Psychology, focusing on programme structure, the integration of a competence-based approach, and the orientation towards tangible learning outcomes.

The seminar concluded with a general Q&A session, during which participants discussed key sectoral challenges, including the balance between formal educational requirements and real societal needs, the necessity of updating higher education standards, the integration of international experience, and the strengthening of students’ roles in quality assurance processes. Hosting such an event at IAPM reaffirms the Academy’s position as an active contributor to shaping modern educational policy in Ukraine and as a platform for professional dialogue among all stakeholders of the higher education system. The seminar became an important step in advancing psychological education in Ukraine, fostering expert consolidation and contributing to a shared vision for its further modernisation in response to contemporary challenges.