Higher Education in Ukraine: an Overview
Higher Education in Ukraine: an Overview
For Ukrainians education has always been of the highest value. Universities have been compared with temples, and their mission to serve society by means of education and science has been the priority. During the last 18 years the system of education in Ukraine has undergone deep changes and transformations, the long-term aim of which is to create a system based on the European model of higher education. This series of articles will be devoted to the process of educational reform, its influence on Ukrainian society, on state activities, on the attitudes of the academic society and of the students to the results achieved thereby, as well as to what is to be done in the future (see below for some relevant facts about Ukraine today, Figure 1 [1]). According to the Constitution of Ukraine, access to education is granted equally to all citizens. Education in Ukraine comprises a complex structure of the European type. It includes pre-school education, comprehensive secondary education, vocational technical education (VET in EU terminology) and higher education (Bachelor, Specialist and Master). There is also a postgraduate research education system for science degrees: Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science (Doctoral and Post-Doctoral education in EU terminology). The system of education as it currently exists is presented in Figure 2. Secondary education is compulsory. As a rule, schooling begins at the age of six. Since 2005, an eleven-year school program has been replaced with a twelve-year one. In the last (11th or 12th) grade, pupils take External Independent Tests. These tests are later used to determine university admission. The state guarantees a person freedom of choice, providing him or her with the possibility of obtaining an education according to his or her mental and professional abilities. As a result of the reforms made in the educational process, a multi-cycle higher education system has been introduced, with
For Ukrainians education has always been of the highest value. Universities have been compared with temples, and their mission to serve society by means of education and science has been the priority. During the last 18 years the system of education in Ukraine has undergone deep changes and transformations, the long-term aim of which is to create a system based on the European model of higher education. This series of articles will be devoted to the process of educational reform, its influence on Ukrainian society, on state activities, on the attitudes of the academic society and of the students to the results achieved thereby, as well as to what is to be done in the future (see below for some relevant facts about Ukraine today, Figure 1 [1]). According to the Constitution of Ukraine, access to education is granted equally to all citizens. Education in Ukraine comprises a complex structure of the European type. It includes pre-school education, comprehensive secondary education, vocational technical education (VET in EU terminology) and higher education (Bachelor, Specialist and Master). There is also a postgraduate research education system for science degrees: Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science (Doctoral and Post-Doctoral education in EU terminology). The system of education as it currently exists is presented in Figure 2. Secondary education is compulsory. As a rule, schooling begins at the age of six. Since 2005, an eleven-year school program has been replaced with a twelve-year one. In the last (11th or 12th) grade, pupils take External Independent Tests. These tests are later used to determine university admission. The state guarantees a person freedom of choice, providing him or her with the possibility of obtaining an education according to his or her mental and professional abilities. As a result of the reforms made in the educational process, a multi-cycle higher education system has been introduced, with