Volodymyr Bondar, a people's deputy from Lutsk, began Knowledge Day at secondary school No. 23 in the city of Lutsk, where he spoke at the festive assembly. Prolonged rain and the limited space of the assembly hall forced the school administration to split the first bell ceremony into "two sessions" - for first-grade and graduating-class students and separately for the middle grades, but the weather conditions did not affect the festive mood of those present. The first-graders felt especially elated - 158 children aged 6 and another 24 aged 7 stepped for the first time onto the path of the Land of Knowledge, where upperclassmen and teachers welcomed them with family warmth into the hospitable home of school 23. It was precisely these newly minted schoolchildren who received the most attention from the school director, city council deputy Stepan Rybchynchuk, homeroom teachers and representatives of the parents' guardianship council, who in their speeches wished them goodness, joy from learning, and perseverance in mastering the sciences. As a memento of the first bell holiday, the first-graders received booklets from the deputy titled "Reflection of Childhood," and the school library was supplemented with fairy tales for children of primary school age titled "The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Taxes." Volodymyr Bondar also congratulated the teaching staff on the start of the new academic year, wished graduating-class students to make up for any gaps in their secondary education during the year remaining before entering adult life, and emphasized that "skilled hands, learned minds and loving hearts of the younger generation are very much needed by Ukraine at the stage of its state-building."
School No. 23 in Lutsk, where more than 1,800 students study, has long been renowned for the level of education of its graduates and the patriotism of its upbringing. But the private school of developmental education began its operation quite recently - since March 2003 the teaching staff received a license to teach the primary school program. However, its popularity is growing rapidly - about 20 Lutsk families have expressed a desire to pay for their children's education, since experienced teachers work here on the basis of the latest teaching and upbringing methods, which allows them to instill healthy self-esteem in a child, teach independent analysis of problem situations, and give skills for making optimal decisions. People's deputy Volodymyr Bondar visited the first lesson at the private school and met with the administration of the educational institution. During the conversation, its participants noted the promise and importance of reformist ideas in the field of education. Issues of the establishment and development of alternative school education in Volyn were also discussed.