On May 19, 2025, the state institution "South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky" held a discussion of the draft educational and professional program for training higher education applicants "Preschool education. Management of a preschool education institution" for applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education.

The discussion involved members of the working group, reviewers, employers and representatives of education applicants, in particular: Annenkova Iryna Petrivna - Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Educational Department of Odesa National Medical University, Professor of the Department of Health Management; Kovshar Olena Viktorivna - Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Preschool Education of Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University; Prytykovska Svitlana Dmytrivna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Director of the Odesa Special Preschool Educational Institution "Nursery-Kindergarten" No. 193 of the compensatory type; Pavlyuk Kateryna Stanislavivna – director of preschool education institution No. 63 of the Odesa City Council; Stroina Alina Oleksandrivna – teacher-methodologist of preschool education institution No. 274 of the Odesa City Council; Pascal Olena Viktorivna – head of the Center for Quality Assurance in Education, candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor.

The participants of the discussion noted the relevance, compliance with state standards, optimality and expediency of the selection of mandatory components of professional training of the educational and professional program, which ensure the formation of managerial competencies in higher education applicants. When drawing up the EPP, special attention was paid to the practice-oriented nature of the program, ensuring the formation of research competence of future management specialists.

Experts emphasized the program's compliance with modern challenges and needs of the preschool education system, as well as labor market demands, in particular, the training of specialists capable not only of effectively implementing the educational process in preschool education, but also of making management decisions, ensuring the quality of educational activities, developing teaching teams, implementing innovations, and cooperating with parents and the public.

During the discussion, recommendations were proposed for specifying the elective component of the program, which will be considered at the department meeting.