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EDUCATION
The public education of Ukraine is centuries old. Its organizational date forms from Kyivan Rus. The development of the written language and school education among the Eastern Slavs was promoted by the creation of the Slavonic alphabet by SS Cyril and Methodius in the 11th century. Schools in Kyiv Rus had begun at the end of the 10th century in Kyiv, with numbers increasing from the 11th to 12th century. Schools were established at churches, monasteries and princes’ courts. The first private parish schools were known from the 10th century.
The first institution of higher learning was the Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium (later called Academy), which was established in 1632.
The Lviv University is one of the oldest universities in Europe, having begun activities in 1661.
Independent Ukraine has inherited the developed network of educational establishments. The present system of education includes preschool education, general secondary education, out-of school education, professional and technical and higher learning education. In all, there are about 48,000 establishments and institutions, at which about 15 million students are educated. In the system, there are more than 2 million teaching specialists, which means that every third citizen is either teaching or studying.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the state is obligated to ensure accessible and free of charge preschool, secondary, professional, technical and higher education at the state and municipal educational institutions, and the development of various forms of education. Moreover, the guarantees of the right for education are a compulsory general secondary education, granting state allowances and privileges to pupils and students, as well as the right for citizens to be educated at the state and municipal higher learning institutions on a competitive basis and free of charge.
Every citizen has the right to freely develop their personality and has the choice to choose the place of education and study.
In 1996, the Supreme Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, that allowed the intensification of the legislative process in the sphere of education.
Preschool Education The first stage of the education system is preschool. More than half of children who enter the first class of a general education school have been brought up at the state and departmental preschool establishments (nursery schools). There are preschool establishments with the groups in which children stay all day, longer than the twelve hour norm.
The preschool program pays special attention to strengthening and hardening a child’s constitution, games, development of speech, movements, development of cultural and hygienic abilities and skills, social education, the formation of physical, mental and emotional and volitional readiness for school education.
Attendance at a nursery school is voluntary. The parents are required to pay an amount for sojourn of their child at a nursery school.
There are special nursery schools and groups for children with physical or mental disorders.
At these establishments, the medical and pedagogical work are aimed at early compensation and correction of mental and physical defects. Furthermore, training for education at special public schools is arranged.
Preschool education is part of the system of public education which reports to the Ministry of Education. The researches are conducted at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, at the preschool facilities of pedagogical universities or institutes.
According to 1997 data, there are 21.2 thousand active preschool establishments in Ukraine, which 1.5 million children (about 44%) attend. During the last six years, the number of preschool establishments has been decreased by 3.3 thousand and the number of children at them has been decreased by 900 thousand people.
From 1996, permanently acted nursery schools operated seasonally.
In the summer, the local preschool establishments are temporarily closed in large towns, the number of closed establishments has amounted to 40% in June and August.
At present, the index of birth rate is lower than the death rate index in Ukraine, which is due to aggravation of people’s living and working conditions. The indices of birth rate on the basis of one thousand people are as follows: 10.1 in 1994 9.9 in 1995. The total indices of death rate based on one thousand people is 14.7 an the infant mortality rate was 15.2 per one thousand newborn children.
School Education With the emergence of independence of Ukraine and the development of the independent democratic legal state comes the demand for thorough work on elaboration of a new model of education which shall be consistent with realities of the post-totalitarian society. The essence of the new model of education is decentralization and democratization of administration of education, continuity of education and a variety of educational plans and programs. The whole sphere of education shall be orientated towards the priority of development of personality. The cardinal reconstruction of the whole educational system, beginning from preschool education and ending with improvement of graduated specialists’ qualifications, is laid into the program “Education” (or “Osvita”), approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in November, 1993.
The historical process was such that, at the beginning of the 20th century 76% of the Ukrainian population between the ages 9-49 were illiterate. In the 1930s, mass illiteracy was liquidated. Presently, secondary education is compulsory in Ukraine.
The primary way of obtaining it is at the education establishments - schools, lyceums, grammar schools, specialized schools, etc.
Children enter primary school at the age of six or seven. The length of education at secondary schools is eleven years. Four years are spent at primary school, and five at secondary schools. Upon completing secondary school, the student has the choice whether to continue education at general education or specialized schools where a compulsory second education is provided. At the secondary general education schools, students are taught labor lessons and the fundamentals of popular professions. All education materials, in particular textbooks, are free of charge.
Religion is not studied at schools in Ukraine, as the Church is separated from schools. Besides, there are over 60 active religions in Ukraine, so the state does not give preference to any of them.
The quality of education is ensured by the established system of control - annual end-of-the-year examinations on basic disciplines are administered.
In Ukraine, there are also evening and correspondence secondary general education schools that give anyone the possibility to get an education, if they have not already. This system allows people to study without having to give up their jobs.
The problem with general education is the lack of school rooms. Because of this, some of the students are forced to learn in shifts. During 1990-1995, despite the building of new schools and a small increase in the group of students, the amount of students who had to learn in later shifts increased by 45 thousand.
At the same time as Ukraine was seeking independence, a number of new positive tendencies appeared in the system of education. Thus, the important steps were made for democratization of the educational process, strengthening of the natural connection of education and natural history, culture and traditions, ensuring the freedom of creative work of teachers and innovators. The spectrum of educational establishments became more diverse.
The new types of general education secondary schools appeared. These schools were called upon to appreciate the interests and inclinations of the rising generation and also the demands of society. In 1996, there were 163 grammar schools with 85.5 thousand students in the Republic. There were about 50 thousand students in 159 lyceums, and 510 thousand students studying disciplines in 3.4 thousand schools.
At present, the process of reforming and improving the educational structure are continuing. The comprehensive work on elaboration of the State Standards for preschool education and general education has begun.
There are approximately 500 thousand teachers and specialists in Ukraine. Teachers are trained at the universities, pedagogical institutes and pedagogical specialized schools. The pedagogical practice is compulsory. All candidates for teaching positions must pass the state examinations after completing their education. Unfortunately, poor financing of educators negatively affects teachers creates an unprestigious and unattractive image of teaching. For example, in 1995, general education schools in Ukraine lost 46 thousand teachers due to low social protection.
Vocational Training Specialists on the basis of incomplete secondary school (9 classes) are educated at the vocational schools during 3-4 years because the students who are leaving school shall get not only the training on specialty, but also secondary education. Training at the technical colleges on the basis of secondary education lasts one or two years. At the present time, there is a single type of educational establishment, secondary vocational technical school with corresponding departments for various professions and terms of training in accordance with the educational level of the candidates. All secondary vocational technical schools are established and function on the basis of production associations, enterprises, institutions and organizations and in rural areas on the basis of regional agrarian and industrial associations, state farms, collective farms, and enterprises serving several farms.
The training of qualified workers is carried out by means of consolidation of educational process and productive work. The productive work of students at shops, testing grounds of college or directly at factories is a basis of an educational and training process. The effective pedagogical methods of teaching include: educational and research work, film-lessons, simulation of production situations, course and diploma design work and so on. Technical means, trainers, educational TV are among techniques widely used in the educational process. The colleges have modern material bases, production workshops and training grounds, libraries, assembly and sports halls, hostels and canteens at their disposal.
At present, there are 11,000 offices, more than 3,000 laboratories, 6,800 educational and training work shops, and 590 training grounds and tractor grounds, as well as 1,200 experimental sectors of enterprise at the disposal of the vocational technical colleges.
The vocational technical colleges of agriculture and reclamation profiles have 70,000 hectares of land, and more than 16,000 tractors, motor cars and combines. Presently, approximately 60,000 engineering and pedagogical workers, including more than 18,000 teachers and 30,000 foremen for industrial training, ensure the educational process at the vocational technical colleges. As of the 1995-1996 academic year, there were 1147 secondary vocational technical colleges in Ukraine, and 520,000 students.
Institutions of Higher Education The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, founded as a college in 1632 and existing about 200 years, was accessible to all strata of population of Ukraine and to foreigners as well. The Bielorussians, Balkan Slavs, Romanians Russians, Greeks, and Arabs are among the people from abroad who have attended the Academy. Quite a number of scientists, statesmen and clergymen in Ukraine and East Europe have come from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
The oldest university in Ukraine, the Lviv University was founded in 1661. The newest university, Ternopil Technical University, was achieved status in 1997.
The basis of the system of higher education in Ukraine consists of universities and academies, polytechnic, pedagogical, agricultural, law, economic and medical institutes. The majority of institutions of higher education report to the Ministry of Education, with the exception of religious and military institutions, and are financed by the state.
The system of higher education in Ukraine has a potential which corresponds to that of economically developed nations in Europe. In the Soviet period, the state was the single source of financing of the educational establishments. Presently, the mechanism of mixed financing of the higher education system is forming.
In 1996, 76% of students entering at as first year students at institutes of higher learning were funded by the state budget 24% were at the expense of ministries, departments, and local budgets.
The network of academies and universities in Ukraine cannot satisfy all people wish to earn a higher education. So, candidates are selected for admission. This makes it quite competitive to enter into a university. Accordingly, the entrance examinations and interviews are important factors in the selection process.
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