The Ukrainian parliament has appointed Oksen Lisovyy as education minister with 313 votes in favour, Voice MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak has said.
Lisovyy is a volunteer. He has headed the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, PhD in Philosophy, author of more than 250 scientific publications.
He is the son of dissident philosopher Vasyl Lisovyy and educator Vira Lisova. Because of his status as the son of a dissident, Oksen faced problems entering a higher education institution, so he first studied ceramics at the Reshetylivka Art School, according to the NUS website.
Later, after his father's rehabilitation, he graduated from the Kyiv State Institute of Culture with a degree in Library and Information Systems. Since the age of 17, he has taught art classes at schools and fencing at the Sich Scout Organization, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Historical Club, and the Kyiv Mohyla College.
After years in business, in 2012 he defended his PhD in philosophical anthropology and philosophy of culture, and was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine in Education. In 2021, Oksen Lisovyy was awarded the honourary title of Honoured Education Worker of Ukraine.
The previous minister of education and science, Serhiy Shkarlet, was dismissed by parliament yesterday. Shkarlet headed the ministry first as acting minister and then as a full-fledged minister since June 2020. The discontent began even before his appointment, as plagiarism was discovered in Shkarlet's academic work.