Ukraine’s New Curriculum on Genocide in a Global Context Prepares a New Generation to Recognize and Resist It
Ukraine is introducing a new model curriculum dedicated to one of the most urgent lessons of history: understanding genocide and learning how to recognize and resist the forces that make it possible.
In September, Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science announced its recommended new model curriculum, Genocides in the History of the World and Ukraine. 20th–21st Centuries. Specialized Secondary Education. Basic / Advanced Level (Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated June 11, 2026, No. 927).
The curriculum brings together leading Ukrainian educators and historians, including HREC Director of Education Valentina Kuryliw, as well as HREC in Ukraine’s Liudmilla V. Hrylynevych, V. A. Hrylynevych, I. O. Zakharchuk, V. V. Ostrovsky, O. V. Savko, and V. S. Sergienko. It was printed in Ukraine by HREC PRESS.
The Russian-Ukrainian war has acutely highlighted the need to understand genocide not only as a phenomenon of the past, but also as one of the most serious international crimes, the threat of which persists in the modern world.
The new course goes beyond memorizing historical events. Students will explore how genocides develop, the mechanisms that enable them, the role of propaganda and hate speech, and how people respond to mass violence. Most importantly, the course aims to help young people recognize warning signs and understand how genocide can be confronted and prevented.
Ukraine’s experience. The world’s history.
The curriculum places Ukraine’s dramatic historical experience—including the Holodomor, the Holocaust, the Roma genocide, the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Nazi genocidal violence against Ukrainians during World War II, and Russia’s ongoing genocidal war against Ukraine—within a broader global framework.
Students will examine these histories alongside the genocides of the Herero and Nama, Armenians, Tutsi in Rwanda, victims of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, and Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, among others.
This comparative approach allows students to identify recurring patterns and mechanisms of genocidal violence while recognizing the unique circumstances of each case.
The goal is not simply to remember the past. It is to equip the next generation to recognize the threat of genocide—and to understand their role in resisting it.
Teachers in Ukraine will also receive methodological materials developed by participants in the new program now entitled The Valentina Kuryliw School for Emerging Textbook Authors and launched as part of the Verba Magistri International Methodological Laboratory for Educators.