What is to be done tomorrow?

The whole world marked International Students’ Day on November 17. There are over two million students in Ukraine, and, no matter how hard life might be in this country, they have always remained progressive, extremely active, energetic, and self-confident people. Suffice it to recall the “granite revolution,” the Orange Revolution, and the numerous protest actions now underway against the Minister of Education and Science Dmytro Tabachnyk. Now that the government is once again testing students, it is very important to show unity and resolve. Social surveys say that, although students have always been at the vanguard of those capable of defending their interests, many of them now lack independence in making decisions and are unaware of their own political interests. Instead, they are now worried about their future.

“I came to this conclusion when I was conducting a poll in western Ukraine about the expectations, political views and values of students, in connection with the local elections,” says Olena Lishchynska, senior researcher at the Institute of Social and Political Psychology, “Students seem to be suffering from post-traumatic syndromes. Their main desire is that the government take care of them. I wanted to see the extent to which people believe in themselves and are confident in their abilities.

It turned out that western Ukrainian students were not self-reliant. The explanation is very simple. There is a psychological relationship: when an individual is feeling a threat to his physical existence and is not sure whether he will have work, clothes, food, i.e., whether his primary needs will be satisfied, other needs simply recede to the background. Now I cannot see clearly the way young people will behave tomorrow. For, on the one hand, students are expected to be active and ready to stand up for their rights, needs, and place in society. On the other hand, in the current situation, when the value of education has been eroded by corruption, when fake diplomas are being sold in the open, and brand-new universities teach nothing, the young professional remains expendable. This creates a vicious circle: on the one hand, one needs a diploma and, on the other, the diploma will not guarantee a job.

So, students are now more preoccupied with the problems of everyday existence. Besides, those who are going to apply to higher educational institutions have to adjust to new admission rules. The latter, recently made public by the ministry of education, have triggered a barrage of criticism from educators. The most scathing criticism was directed at the intention to revert to mandatory entrance exams at higher educational institutions. Experts believe it is a very good opportunity to bypass, i.e., to bring to nothing, the system of independent external testing. This is in fact another step back on our education system’s path to European standards. It goes against our student’s interests: they want to have a chance to continue their education abroad or at least to study in the same conditions as their foreign peers.

“Meanwhile, those who already study are concerned about where to find a job. According to polls conducted by the State Institute of Family and Youth Development, employment is what worries students the most because both their living standards and the likelihood of meeting all their physical and intellectual needs depend on this. However, as students have limited professional experience, they find it difficult to say whether they will be competitive on the labor market, which is what employers value the most.

Young people will have to face even more problems if the Verkhovna Rada finally approves the revised version of the Labor Code. In that case a young employee will be subject to probation, and employers will have the right not to pay him/her wages in this period. So the new law may as well turn most of the university graduates into unpaid workers.

Nevertheless, young people have always had enough vigor and self-confidence to surmount any obstacles. The Day has more than once seen this, when it met students in various parts of Ukraine. We asked students themselves about the perspectives, opportunities and chances of self-realization that await them.

COMMENTARY

Nazar LYTVYN, 5th year student, Finance and Economics Faculty, Kyiv National Vadym Hetman University:

“I am graduating next year and will surely face the problem of employment. Naturally, I would like to work in the profession I chose. But, unfortunately, it is very difficult to find this kind of a well-paid job today. That the state should guarantee a job placement is utterly out of the question. In the light of the current government’s actions today, the ‘ongoing’ reforms inspire neither optimism nor certainty about tomorrow. I am doing now my internship at the State Tax Inspection and, even if we assume that they will employ me, I will be earning a ludicrous salary. How can I live in the capital for this money? Most of the private firms need employees with work experience. But where can I derive it from, even though I am a fulltime student who has been studying diligently and getting straight A’s in the past five years? So, unfortunately, the situation is difficult and I have not yet decided what I will do and where I will go after I graduate from the university.”