The system of higher education in Ukraine has long become an industry with its own rules. Education field covers 803 entities of I-IV accreditation levels and more than 2 million students (4.4% of the general population). More than a half of the students are funded by individuals and legal entities (get educated on contract bases). The average tuition reaches an average of UAH 10 to 20 thousand a year. In other words, for contract-based higher education Ukrainians spend an average of UAH 10 to 20 billion annually. This is the official side of things only. The other side of the coin concerns the corruption payments done by parents willing to “educate the child" in a decent university. Some students have low expectations of education, yet need the basic "paper" – the diploma of higher education. Those who choose to "hit the books" often realize after the graduation that education received and paid accordingly (using own funds, funds of the parents or the public funds) provided knowledge of no use for employers. However, no money is being returned for poorly provided educational services. Moreover, the guidelines, which would have allowed parents and prospective students to understand the offers of 803 educational entities, are fairly conventional.
The new law and the real cost of education
The draft law 1187-2 “On higher education", also known as "Zgurovsky’s Law" (developed by a team led by the rector of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Mykhailo Zgurovsky) was adopted yesterday. It aims to increase the competitiveness of universities and science in general, to increase the demand for the knowledge and skills on the part of employers, to create opportunities for research within universities, significantly expanding the autonomy of higher education in Ukraine. These should finally bring higher education in Ukraine to European standards.
Article 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine determines the absolute right of every citizen to education. The Basic Law clearly stipulates that the State ensures accessibility and no-cost of higher education in state-owned and communal educational establishments. However, at the moment the constitutional guarantee of the equal right to education and availability of high quality education remains in question.
UAH 10 to 20 thousand per year for tuition plus "enrollment competition for parents”. Add shadow charges and ordinary corruption. Is this "free of charge" higher education available considering the minimum wage of UAH 1176? The cost of education in Ukraine often exceeds the cost of a similar class for higher education in neighboring Poland, despite the fact that the average Polish salary is much higher.
The high cost of education does not guarantee knowledge and skills, competitive and demanded by the labour market. As a result even leading Ukrainian universities often provide non-competitive graduates, who eventually need retraining. There is a devaluation of higher education as a mean of obtaining professional knowledge. Talented young people are not delayed in Ukraine for long, and move to work or conduct research abroad.
“The politicians had promised” or “Why the Party of Regions, whatever is left from the PR faction, had supported the opposition draft law”?
It should be noted that PR MPs Serhiy Kivalov, Ihor Kalyetnik and Mykola Soroka had registered the higher education draft law 1187 on December 28, 2012 in fulfillment of the campaign promises. Mentioned draft provided for the continuation of the manual control over university by the ministries, diminished the weight of entrance exams and the collapse of external independent testing (EIT) taken at graduation from school,and permitted admission on contract basis virtually all applicants by any university rules. Back then PR member Dmytro Tabachnyk was chairing education ministry, and mentioned draft law was the logical continuation of the practice of "harvesting" universities and elimination of unwanted rectors. However, in the end the "Zgurovsky’s Law" 1187-2 had won, providing for the establishment of university autonomy, promotion of fair competition among universities, and thus increased the quality of higher education.
"Zgurovsky’s Law" partly echoes the election commitments of the Party of Regions, specifically concerning "scholarships at the level of the minimum wage”. Now the minimum scholarship for junior BA degree is not less than 2/3 of a living wage and for BA and MA degrees it should not be less than minimal wage, UAH 1176. The fact that Serhiy Kivalov voted "Zgurovsky’s Law" speaks of reorientation of one of the most influential in the education and legal fields PR member, who also chairs Odessa Law Academy. At the moment, when the Ministry of Education is no longer led by PR Minister Tabachnyk, the autonomy of Odessa Law Academy matches Kivalov’s interests.
PR promised to "ensure at least 75% of government contracts in higher education". Having PR representative chairing the Ministry of Education for a long time (Dmytro Tabachnyk), the Party of Regions had every opportunity to accomplish these promises. However, in 2013-2014 academic year the state funding was provided for 48% of students only. Moreover, Tabachnyk did his best for preserving the post-Soviet system of higher education and distortion of EIT.
The Communist party thesis on return to the state-sponsored free of charge pre-school, secondary, vocational and higher education sounded unrealistic. As for higher education, the Communists’ thesis sounded purely populist, considering present realities.
UDAR program provided for free secondary and vocational education, which was more down-to-earth. These promises were in fact implemented. On February 2, 2014, Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science stated that "as of September 1, 2013, 374 thousand graduates of secondary schools were enrolled in the state vocational schools, of which only 1.5 percent studied on contract basis in groups, where the demand exceeded the government order".
“Svoboda’s” election program did not contain clear education-related promises, with the exception of the draft law 1233 as of January 10, 2013 on Ukrainian as the state language and procedure for the use of other languages in Ukraine (the group of authors including Iryna Fahrion and Andriy Illienko), which provided the use of the Ukrainian language in education and science. However, "Svoboda" fraction still supported the draft law 1187-2. It is worth noting that yesterday after a bitter debate the amendment requesting exclusively Ukrainian language of teaching in higher education institutions, located in areas of minorities’ residence, was rejected.
"Zgurovsky’s Law" corresponds with the pre-election commitments of “Batkivschyna” and UDAR. “Batkivschyna” called for making education affordable and modern, support for EIT and the introduction of government grants for higher education. Mentioned draft law also met the Government's pre-election thesis of university autonomy and the commercialization of science, and provided for substantial expansion of powers of the university. It reduced the workload by one third, allowing professors to devote more time to research activities.
Tellingly, 107 Party of Regions MPs and 32 Communists were absent in the session hall while the draft law was voted in principal back in April 2014. Instead, it was supported by “Batkivschyna” (81 votes), unaffiliated MPs (38), "Economic Development" group (36), "Svoboda" (30), UDAR (28), "European sovereign Ukraine" group (23).
Yesterday, however, 276 MPs had voted in favour of the law. “Batkivschyna” faction devoted 77 out of 86 votes, UDAR - 27 of 41, "Svoboda" - 34 of 35. Parliamentary groups "Economic Development" and "European sovereign Ukraine" also supported the draft law, granting 39 and 35 votes respectively. 12 Party of Regions MPs (including almost all Odesans, headed by Serhiy Kivalov) decided to vote in favour. The Communist Party has decided not to vote in whole.
What will change with the new law on higher education?
Universities will become more independent from the Ministry of Education, in particular, will vote for rectors. Universities will also have more opportunities for financial independence to implement the autonomy. They will be able to determine the organization of the educational process, provide additional educational services, use their own land and finance income and carry out business activities. Universities will have the right to issue state certified diplomas and their own documents of higher education. All information on university diplomas will be published in the United State Electronic Database on Education. Everyone will be able to access it through the website of the Ministry of Education of Ukraine.
The wording "educational entity of III-IV accreditation levels" will parish in past. Universities will be divided into 3 types: "University" as a universal institution, the "Academy" and "Institution" as industry-specific and research entities and "College" as the establishment training the professionals at the level of a junior Bachelor/Bachelor.
Regarding the admission procedures, the law determined that the value of EIT certificate in competitive score shall be no less than 20%, the average value of the school graduation certificate should not exceed 10%, and the proportion of creative/physical abilities of the entrant shall not exceed 50% of the total score.
ECTS system of credit transfer was introduced, which would allow more flexibility in the learning process, and thus reduction of the opportunities for corruption in universities. Students will be able to choose teachers and courses that are truly interesting, that would have a positive effect on the quality of teaching. The workload of teaching staff will be less than a third - up to 600 hours per year, which will help to focus more attention on scientific research.
A new source of corruption in education?
Creation of the National Agency for Higher Education, provided by the new law, would form a sort of independent collegial body to evaluate the standards of education. The intention is good, but "the devil is in the details”. The mentioned National Agency will develop and approve standards of higher education and educational activities, licensing of educational activities and more. So in fact it would occupy some important powers, which traditionally had been a source of corruption in the system of Ministry of Education.
It should be noted that the government will approve the statute of the Agency, appoint and dismiss its Chairman and Vice-Chairman. At the same time, the National Agency has the possibility to attract funding from the outside sources, including grants and funds received as payment for accreditation and licensing. In other words, the newly created body will obtain powers to resolve the fate of 803 educational entities, and there might be many willing to “bribe their way out of trouble” having the legal basis for this as provided by the Law - funding from the outside sources. Preventive measures to counteract legalization of corrupt schemes that previously worked at the Ministry stay questioned. The law should have contained the clear criteria for evaluating standards of education and procedures for validation, ensuring maximum transparency and accountability of the National Agency. Whether the good intention of lawmakers to restore order in education would be negated by possible by-laws remains to be seen.
Let's hope that education will finally meet its cost and will be focused not on the “learning for learning” but on the necessary knowledge and skills requested by the employers. As a result, the consumers of educational services - the students, their parents and the state, will know what they are paying for. If an educational service is of poor quality no one would “buy” it. Therefore the university will focus on the needs of employers and will be forced to close certain departments. Millions of students and their parents, who are about to enter the labour market, are expecting fundamental changes in the education system. In fact, higher education system just like the other areas needs its own Revolution of Dignity.
