Youth Spaces 12–21 Network of the Olena Zelenska Foundation Has Created a Graduates’ Manual, ‘NMT Is Not a Limit to Your Capabilities’

Supporting young people who overcome the challenges of war is one of the key focus areas of the Olena Zelenska Foundation. On the eve of the announcement of the final results of the NMT main session test results, which will be released starting in July (National Multi-subject Test), the barrier-free Youth Spaces 12–21 network—a project of the Olena Zelenska Foundation—has created the “NMT Is Not a Limit to Your Capabilities” manual together with the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program “How Are You?”

The new guide continues the support for graduates. It is useful for those whose grades this year did not meet expectations and whose usual route to admission has suddenly changed. Its goal is to help teenagers cope with emotional stress and view the situation from a different angle, opening up alternative development options.

The guide offers practical tools for psychological support and a clear roadmap of opportunities: simple, effective self-help techniques; analysis of alternative educational and career trajectories; practical tips for filling a “year for yourself” through the first job, internships, or volunteering; and an introduction to “zero courses” at higher education institutions.

“We want teenagers to grow and develop despite all the circumstances, but not at the expense of their mental and physical health. The manual reminds teenagers that exam results do not define them as a person, and that NMT results are just a circumstance that opens up other ways,” says Viktoriia Romanova, General Director of the Olena Zelenska Foundation.

The guide is already available for free download from the official website of the Youth Spaces 12–21 network and from partner platforms. In addition to using the guide, graduates, together with their parents, can attend individual career consultations and receive support from psychologists and youth workers at Youth Spaces 12–21, which currently operate in the cities of Bila Tserkva, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, and Kryvyi Rih.