First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska took part in the 2025 Global Teacher Prize Ukraine award ceremony, held annually by the NGO Osvitoria to mark Education Workers’ Day.
According to the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine, this year’s Best Teacher is Ruslan Shalamov from Kharkiv, who received UAH 1 million to bring his educational dream to life.
The President’s wife announced the winner of the “Ukrainians’ Choice” category. For the second year in a row, Ukrainians themselves selected the teacher whose story and teaching approach inspired them most. This year, more than 10,000 people participated in the vote on the Diia.Osvita platform, with 2,263 votes going to Yurii Pakhomov, a chemistry teacher from Ivano-Frankivsk. His lessons turn science into action – from AR experiments to projects that have raised hundreds of thousands of hryvnias to support Ukrainian warriors. The winner received an educational trip as a gift.
“Yurii Pakhomov believes that if a teacher can answer a child’s question during class – even if it’s not related to the subject – the lesson was not in vain. Because the teacher helped the child. And that is the teacher’s mission – to help,” the First Lady emphasized.
Winners in other categories included: Preschool Education – Khrystyna Mykuliak, preschool teacher from Ivano-Frankivsk; Mathematics Teacher – Lesia Maksymko, teacher of algebra, geometry, and computer science from the Ivano-Frankivsk region; Chemistry Teacher – Yevhenii Atamasenko, Kyiv region; Choice by Heart – Maksym Romanov, geography teacher from the Kharkiv region; Computer Science Teacher – Nataliia Perekhryst, computer science and English teacher from Ternopil; Innovative Teacher – Volodymyr Babenko, computer science teacher from the Poltava region; Inclusion – Olha Bilanova, teacher of Ukrainian Sign Language, law, and history from Kryvyi Rih.
Three educators received special distinctions under the Talents For Ukraine grant program of the KSE Foundation: Yevhenii Atamasenko (chemistry teacher, Kyiv region), Kostiantyn Kravchuk (computer science and fine arts teacher, Khmelnytskyi), and Olha Pohribniak (history teacher, Kyiv region).
“At different moments in our lives, we all say thank you to our teachers. But this event is a living expression of that gratitude – a place where a teacher finally walks their deserved red carpet, where they are celebrated like a star. Today, we all lack light. And when a child leaves school shining, coming home inspired, we, parents, understand that they were given not only knowledge, but also that light of hope, the faith in themselves and in life,” said Olena Zelenska.
The Global Teacher Prize Ukraine is an annual national award for teachers – agents of educational change – presented in Ukraine since 2017. It recognizes not only teachers’ achievements in working with students, but also their social contribution.