Ukraine

The Law on Education establishes the following system of higher qualification levels:

• Junior Specialist (three years of instruction)
• Bachelor (four years of instruction)
• Specialist (one year of instruction beyond the first or second level for a total of four or five years)
• Master (two years of instruction past the first or second level for a total of five or six years).

The number of students seeking the third and fourth level degrees is steadily growing. Young people and their parents recognize the value of higher education and the opportunities it provides in the modern world. The umbrella term "VUZ" (vyshchy uchbovy zaklad) is used to denote all kinds of higher educational institutions. In 1998-1999 the network included 327 higher technical schools (technicumy), 216 higher vocational schools (uchilishcha), 117 colleges, 149 institutes, 2 conservatories, 48 academies, and 81 universities. Approximately 85 percent of the VUZs were owned by the state; the remaining 15 percents had different forms of ownership.

In order to be officially acknowledged, all the institutions have to be duly licensed and accredited by the state. The procedure of licensing gives the institution the right to offer educational services, whereas the accreditation establishes its status and recognizes its ability to train specialists at the level of state standards. The preliminary examination of the institution's capacity and training potential is carried out by Expert Boards, and the final decision is made by the State Accreditation Board. The prerequisites for enrollment into higher educational programs include complete secondary education and success in the entrance examinations. The rules for the latter are set by the VUZs on the basis of general state regulations. Applicants who finished secondary schools with silver and gold medals take only one profile examination and are admitted if they receive an excellent grade. Others have to go through a competition based on the cumulative results of the exams. The competition to popular institutions can be quite keen. Preference is given to particular social groups, such as children from working class families, orphans, and war veterans. To provide better chances for admission for rural applicants, VUZ set special quotas to train specialists, who are expected to work in rural areas after graduation. In 2000 more than approximately 3,000 students were enrolled on the basis of such quotas.

The majority of institutions are coeducational. On the average, male and female students are equally represented at the VUZs, though women are usually predominant in humanitarian departments and men in technical schools. The programs can be full time (day) and part time (night or by correspondence). Since 1990-1991 the enrollment in full time programs has been steadily growing. This is mainly because of the emergence of non-state institutions and departments, where the competition is not so fierce. During the period from 1990 to 1996 the number of part time students decreased from approximately 13,000 to 3,000 in the night departments and from 55,000 to 45,000 in the correspondence departments.

Once admitted, freshmen are divided into groups of 20 to 25 students, who attend most of the classes together and study as a team until they graduate. The academic year begins on 1 September; it lasts 42 weeks and is divided into 2 semesters. The pressure of the state in defining the content of education is still great. Institutions have to adopt the curricula approved by the Ministry of Education even when it conflicts with the opinion of faculty members about the expediency of teaching certain subjects and the number of hours allotted to them. The obligatory part of the curricula includes several areas: social science, humanities, law, environmental studies, ethics, philosophy, and world and national culture. Different subjects are distributed between these areas. It is believed that state regulations allow for the same level of training throughout the entire country. Due to some positive changes, part of the curricula is intended for subjects that can be introduced by the VUZs and thus allow for the diversification of the programs. The approach towards the selection of textbooks and other teaching materials has also become much more liberal. In addition to the current evaluation, students take tests and examinations (the latter mostly oral) at the end of each semester. Typical grades are verbal: pass/fail or excellent, good, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory. Students, who successfully complete all the requirements, receive small stipends from the state.

In order to graduate, students have to defend a thesis and take final state examinations before a panel of professors. The head of the Examination Board is invited from a different institution. Students who graduate with honors (75 percent excellent and 25 percent good grades) receive the so-called "Red Certificate."

Post-graduate education exists in the form of aspirantura and doktorantura, which are attached to educational or research institutions. Aspirantura is a three year advanced training program, leading to the degree of Kandydat Nauk (Candidate of Sciences), which is approximately equivalent to a Ph.D. It is awarded to scholars who pass corresponding qualification exams, publish a number of articles, and defend a dissertation. Holders of the Kandydat's degree can continue their studies in doktorantura. It is a highly prestigious program, and scholars are usually promoted to it after many years of teaching and research. It is essentially a three year sabbatical, which gives the scholar an opportunity to publish a monograph, defend another (more advanced) dissertation, and receive the highest degree conferred in Ukraine—Doktor Nauk (Doctor of Sciences).

Faculty positions include assistant, senior lecturer, dotsent (which usually requires the Kandydat's degree), and professor (requiring the Doktor's degree). They are attained on a competitive basis for a period of five years, after which faculty members have to compete again for the same or a higher position. In 1997-1998 the Ukrainian higher educational system had 130,000 faculty members, 56.6 percent of which had Kandyat's degrees and 7.3 percent were holders of Doktor's degrees. After a year of work in the position of a dotsent or a professor, faculty members can be promoted to a corresponding scholarly rank (zvannya), which is awarded for a lifetime by VAK (Supreme Attestation Commission) and accompanied by a certificate. The highest honorable ranks are corresponding academy member (chlen-korrespondent) and full academy member (diysnychlen).

The Academic Council of a VUZ elects the rector who is responsible for the overall organization of the institution. Prorectors are employed on a contract basis to assist the rector with particular areas of work (e.g., academic process, research, or international contacts). The institution consists of schools, or faculties, headed by deans. Faculty members are organized in departments (kafedry) according to their area of knowledge.

Ukrainian higher educational institutions experience the same difficulties as the rest of the educational system. Financing is far below the norm; the number of computers and other advanced equipment does not meet modern requirements. The funds allocated for research are insufficient. Every year the number of students who receive education free of charge is shrinking, whereas more and more spaces are allocated for applicants who pay tuition fees. Since the latter do not have to go through a severe competition, their level of knowledge often leaves much to be desired. Consequently, the overall quality of student preparation deteriorates. Low salaries and lack of social protection make professors look for jobs elsewhere. In 1994-1995, for example, over 7,000 faculty members, predominantly doktors and kandydats, left their teaching positions. The average age of faculty is growing. Bribery and corruption in the educational sphere have become quite common.

The favorable tendencies include the humanization and diversification of curricula, introduction of innovative methods, and more freedom given to professors in the choice of teaching materials. The elimination of courses indoctrinating Communist ideology allows for a more objective approach to the processes taking place in the modern world. On the other hand, when professors have to switch from old to new subjects, in which they had not received any proper training themselves (e.g., from atheism to theology or from mathematics to business), it has an overall negative effect on the educational process. Nevertheless, VUZs are gradually adjusting to the new conditions. The most important tasks in the sphere of higher education include: the development of multiple forms and mechanisms of financing; the establishment of contacts with enterprises, organizations, central and local organs of power that would provide employment opportunities for prospective graduates; the creation of favorable conditions for the work of highly qualified specialists in the sphere of education; and the development of international contacts. VUZs are also encouraged to set departments beyond their original campuses in order to enhance better educational opportunities in different regions of the country.