You won’t believe it: the state needs intellect

Addressing a press conference last Tuesday, Stanislav Nikolaienko, Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science, announced that the government has increased its quota of study places in institutions of higher education: 145,000 secondary school graduates (nearly a third of the total) have been guaranteed a tuition-free place in their first years of study at bachelor-level educational institutions. The government quota for study places in the M.A. program has been increased by 11.4 percent compared to last year.

“The state will only develop if it is rich in intellect. So we should provide free education to all gifted children, no matter if they come from a poor family or a wealthy one,” the minister emphasized.

Government quotas were increased with respect to engineering specialties in the light and food industries, housing construction, architecture, mechanical engineering, physical and mathematical sciences, informatics, energy generation, and chemistry, as there is a lack of these specialists on the national labor market. At the same time, universities will be training fewer economics, finance, and law students at the state’s expense because there is a glut of these specialists in Ukraine. “We sometimes hear complaints that it is difficult to obtain free higher education today without somebody’s help. While the competition for engineering specialties is only 1.5-2 per place, 10 to 15 people are competing for a place at legal and financial educational institutions. But every second person in Ukraine cannot possibly be a banker or a lawyer,” Nikolaienko stressed.

To avoid having to bribe university admission officers, applicants will have to take written exams and will therefore be able to appeal what they think is an undeservedly low grade. Interviews and creative tests will be conducted by two teachers. Heads of entrance exam boards will be selectively checking applicants’ papers that have been rated as below average.

“Some mass media reports are full of stories about corruption in universities, quoting fantastic sums of money that are being paid as bribes for admission. I do not understand the parents who allegedly offer such bribes: why not enroll their child on a fee-paying basis and thus pay less?”

Nikolaienko says. “In my opinion, the rumors about corruption are being spread by those who did badly in school. Of course, this phenomenon does exist, but it is not as widespread as some people think. Every year the ministry sets up a hot line during exams, and starting this year we are going to form civic organizations throughout the regions to supervise the admission campaign.”

The minister also announced that this is the first year that 26 percent of secondary school graduates went through testing and can now be admitted to a university without entrance exams. Up-to-date methods and existing experience will make it possible, as early as 2008, to independently assess students’ knowledge of two subjects when they are leaving school and in seven subjects when they are applying to a higher educational institution.

Nikolaienko provided details of his visit to Moscow as part of the Yushchenko-Putin Commission activities. Ukraine and Russia have agreed to boost cooperation in research and education, particularly in such areas as the continuing development of direct links between the two countries’ educational institutions, and exchanges of students and young academics. There are plans to hold the first meeting of Russian and Ukrainian student self-government bodies in September 2007 in Kharkiv.

Describing the situation in Ukraine’s educational sector, the minister noted that the problem of late salaries has nearly been eradicated (except for Zaporizhia and Luhansk oblasts, where this issue will be resolved shortly). In the vast majority of the regions, teachers will also receive their vacation pay before the summer vacations. Over 500 educators were provided with housing in the first five months of 2007, while young specialists will also get the restored relocation allowance, which has not been issued for the past 15 years. There are plans to furnish all schools with manuals before the new academic year and with computers by the end of this year.