Intellectual monitoring

Almost two years ago Ukraine made a clear-cut statement that it was planning to enter the European educational space. By signing the Bologna Declaration, official Kyiv undertook to modernize higher education in Ukraine in the context of European requirements by 2010. Today there is much loud and not altogether unsubstantiated talk that all those “statements of intent” may just be empty promises and that there is still a long way for us to go to implement principles that were turned into reality by Harvard and Oxford universities more than a hundred years ago. Since Ukraine has formally decided to head for European integration, the future of our higher education is with the Bologna process. Most European countries have joined it and the number of participants continues to grow. A two-day session of the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine in Kharkiv analyzed the quality of higher education as an important condition of innovative progress in the state and society. Its plenary meeting, summing up the performance of higher educational establishments in 2006, took place on March 2, following discussions of certain issues and the drafting of recommendations by fourteen sections. The classical universities section worked at Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University, where heated debates took place on topical issues.

Prior to the ministry’s session The Day held the roundtable “The Bologna Process and New Chances for Universities.”

Ihor PASICHNYK, rector of Ostroh Academy National University:

“Our university tested the Western approach to university education a long time ago, long before Ukraine signed the Bologna Declaration. Beginning with the revival of Ostroh Academy, we decided to combine the finest achievements of different systems of education. We managed to synthesize classical American models, the European experience, particular Great Britain’s, and, of course, classical approaches of the Ukrainian system.

“It is important to note that Kyiv- Mohyla Academy had a significant impact on the development of a new education system in Ukraine. Most of the new elements implemented at our academy had already been tested and put into practice there. This includes a testing procedure for entrance examinations, which rules out corruption in the university, a 100-grade point scale based on credits and modules, introduction of subjects, such as music or art, which at first glance seem to be irrelevant to a particular major but help shape students’ personalities. However, unlike in Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, which offers students elective subjects, we built on the classical Ukrainian approach: we preserved mandatory subjects and permanent student groups. With time we saw that this mixture of Ukrainian and Western elements in education proved to be the most effective for contemporary Ukraine.

“As far as the Bologna Declaration is concerned, we studied the approaches it proposes and concluded that they cannot be applied mechanically in Ukrainian universities, at least not in Ostroh Academy. Here is why.

“First, in European universities the primary form of education is self- education, or to be more precise, guided individual education. A transition to this form is still not possible in Ukraine.

“Although students are psychologically prepared for this transition, our universities lack the material resources needed to expand the self- study component. They need to have a broad library network, the number of scholarly publications must be increased, and there must be access to electronic information media. Our state has a long way to go. Furthermore, the approach to teaching in our universities needs to be changed drastically. In Europe the lecturer’s task is to produce a large number of ancillary and instructional materials. There is also a significant discrepancy in the structure of lectures at European and Ukrainian universities. In Ukraine university lectures are general overviews, which is a justified approach because the lecturer has access to original sources for preparing a lecture. Unfortunately, in many cases these sources are inaccessible to students, thus making lectures the only source of information for them. If we sharply reduce the number of lectures and labs, we will be denying students access to theoretical knowledge.

“Many of my colleagues mistakenly believe that the complexity of the Bologna Declaration is a transition to a system based on credits and modules, a new system of academic assessment, and so on. In my opinion, the greatest difficulty lies in changing the essence of an institution of higher education and in transforming the theory-oriented university into an institution that prepares mature scholars. First of all, we need to carefully consider possible ways of stimulating research and development, providing universities with the necessary technical and material resources in order to enable students to work and obtain knowledge in laboratories — together with their lecturers and starting from their first year of studies. Without this we will only continue to formally report on joining the Bologna Declaration and will never effect the transition in practice.

“We forget that in united Europe the concept of globalization is the key one. This Europe is a comfortable environment for countries with historically shaped national identities, like Poland or the Czech Republic. By adopting the idea of international universities, the young state of Ukraine will nip in the bud its nascent state- and nation-building processes. Europeans realized long ago that every university first has to form as a national one and only then as an international one. Thus, adopting various educational techniques, we have to place emphasis on the national university. Can we call a university that has this status but does not even offer courses in the state language a national university? I am convinced that first we need to create national higher education and only then talk about international education.

“On the other hand, our students’ knowledge is not inferior to that of European university graduates, so we definitely need to allow our graduates to find jobs in prestigious organization or businesses abroad. There is nothing wrong in having our specialists work abroad if they promote our country there. That is why we need to synchronize our curricula, credits, etc. with the Europeans. But then again, this should be a gradual process.

“As far as national universities are concerned, I would say, and I believe the majority of rectors would agree with me, that they need far more autonomy. I think that in deciding whether to grant a university national status, two criteria must be used: the market demand for university graduates, and the quality of research and development work in the university. Only systemic transformations will enable Ukraine to join the European education system, and this is a long-term evolution that has to involve the whole society.”

MOBILIZATION AGAINST PESSIMISM

Interview with Maria ZUBRYTSKA, vice-rector of Franko Lviv National University

“To better comprehend the range of problems concerning Ukraine’s integration into the European educational and scientific space, one needs to remember the fundamental principles of the Bologna Declaration, which Ukraine signed in May 2005 in Bergen, Norway. I want to emphasize that our country was among the last to demonstrate its political will in order to make the common European educational and scientific space harmonious, attractive, and competitive in the international arena.

“The obligations and responsibilities that Ukraine pledged to meet include, above all, the implementation by 2010 of a unified system of academic degrees, two-tier education, and European credit transfer system, as well as fostering student and faculty mobility, introducing European education quality standards, and creating a common European educational and scientific space. At every summit education ministers from the countries participating in the Bologna process inevitably make amendments to the tasks and objectives of the common European educational and scientific space. They have formulated the need to cancel age restrictions for students, which will encourage lifelong education, and stressed the need to make the European educational and scientific space as attractive as possible.

“The EU has realized that education is turning into regulated human capital assets, and it is clear to everyone that on the one hand the Bologna Declaration pursues educational, scholarly, and cultural goals and on the other, political and economic objectives. The successful implementation of the fundamental principles and key tasks of the Bologna Declaration requires a context of a calculated and dynamic application of flexible mechanisms for harmonizing our system of education and science with its international counterparts. Also needed are changes to legislation on education and coordinating these laws not only with the dictates of the Bologna Declaration but also with the drastic changes on the domestic and world labor markets.”

Every point you mention requires great expenditures. Let’s look at mobility. You need money at least to buy tickets for travel to an annual internship program or a two-day conference.

“Of course, if you look at the big picture-large-scale student and staff exchanges, regular academic training, participation in prestigious international symposiums, congresses, and conferences-academic mobility does demand a significant amount of expenditures. In actual fact, academic mobility is symptomatic of the financial state of Ukrainian universities and their scholarly programs. What kind of mobility can we talk about if the state provides funds only to pay lecturers’ salaries and students’ monthly allowances and partly cover the cost of utilities? Universities are not prospering-on the brink of extinction, they continue to struggle for survival. Their financial situation is best illustrated by the state of student dormitories. Of course, the EU, different programs, and various international funds offer some financing to increase academic mobility. But this money is not enough to meet everyone’s needs.

“Here I would like to counter with a controversial question: is it true that a critical number of our students, lecturers, professors, and scholars are prepared for this mobility? Do they really have the necessary level of foreign-language proficiency that would enable them to study or teach at universities abroad, develop joint master’s programs that would be certified in both countries, and conduct joint research? Evidently, in addition to language proficiency they need to have a high level of professional expertise. For example, to study at an American university a student has to have a TOEFL certificate as proof of his or her English-language proficiency and to pass the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) which tests the student’s general erudition and totality of knowledge. If we study statistical data on how many of our students have studied at universities abroad and taken and passed the exams I mentioned above, and how many of our lecturers participated in academic exchange programs, the overall picture will definitely lead to many questions. Today, in the 16th year of independence, we cannot talk about a critical number of lecturers and scholars who are striving or willing to offer multi-faceted support to the cause of forming a culture of academic mobility in its various forms and formats.”

Is the European or international community helping Ukraine to implement the Bologna Declaration?

“I believe we have all noticed how the world’s interest in Ukraine has diminished. The political and economic instability in our country undoubtedly affects Ukraine’s general image and, worst of all, holds back potential investors, sponsors, and grant-givers from launching new projects, initiatives, and programs. Millions of Ukrainian citizens, especially young people, perceived the Orange Revolution as a revolution of our spirit, as a great chance to realize our potential — to start a business, enforce democratic principles, launch business projects, and so on. Perhaps for the first time in its history Ukraine turned into a land of opportunity. For the first time in our history we felt we were being given immense opportunities for realizing our potential, building our country and nation, and asserting ourselves. All segments of Ukrainian society needed changes, and there was a need for clean hands and sharp minds to accomplish these changes. It didn’t seem that it would take so much effort-all that the political and state elite would have to do would be to encourage society’s awakening. And then — a precipice and total confusion where only yesterday there were so many opportunities.

For me personally, the most disconcerting symptom is the return of pessimistic attitudes among young people. The 5th Channel recently conducted a survey that boiled down to three key questions: Are you for dictatorship? Are you for democracy? Would you prefer to leave Ukraine? Seventy-six percent of the answers were “I would like to leave.” This is truly alarming.

“If Ukraine integrates into the Bologna process only at the level of rhetoric and techniques without introducing important legislative changes and systemic changes in the structure of the education process, Ukraine, not the European community, will be the loser, because at stake will be our political will and the culture of political responsibility for the official documents that we signed. Against the background of dynamic changes on the European and world market of educational services, our sluggishness and procrastination will once again testify to our political immaturity, a kind of “children’s disease” afflicting our political leaders, who keep playing petty tactical games, and we will irretrievably lose our strategic positions in both the European and international arena. This will only worsen Ukraine’s already negative image.”

PLUSES FOR STUDENTS, MINUSES FOR LECTURERS

Interview with Stepan MELNYCHUK, rector of Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

The system of higher education in Ukraine is still significantly different from the European model. Are there any changes that need to be made at the legislative level?

“Ukrainian universities prepare specialists in a far greater number of majors than their European counterparts. That is why we are working to unify these majors and decrease their number. The Ministry of Education and Science has adopted a list of new directions and fields of knowledge, and by November 2007 specific university majors will be determined.

“The new education system will greatly expand the range of opportunities for acquiring knowledge, especially in the humanities. At the same time, the development of mathematics, physics, and other sciences demands our special attention because in recent years high-school graduates’ proficiency in these subjects has dropped, and we are getting insufficiently prepared first-year students.

“There is another problem — an increase in the number of higher education institutions that lack the appropriate material and technical resources, as well as qualified faculty. These institutions charge tuition, issue diplomas, and often serve the single purpose of profiting from education.

“By now we have carried out substantial preparatory work. In particular, we developed the principles of a credit- and module-based system, made grade sheets, and individual student plans. Twice every semester we convene an academics and research board to study positive developments, discuss shortcomings, and search for ways to eliminate them. Similar boards meet even more frequently in every department. We did not start from scratch — we already had a certain amount of experience: as an experiment, we first introduced the credit- and module-based system for a few majors. The whole university switched to the new system in the last academic year following an order from the Ministry of Education and Science. Last year only first-year students studied according to the new system, but now it involves freshmen and sophomores.”

So you have accumulated some experience and can make conclusions and point to certain advantages and imperfections?

“Like all new things the Bologna system has its pluses and minuses. The undeniable advantage is that the credit- and module-based system gives students an incentive to study and makes them study systematically rather than just before examinations. All subjects are divided into topics (modules) and students get a certain score for each of them. Even though the Bologna system does not include examinations, we decided to keep them. However, an exam may give a student a maximum of only 30 points - this is the so-called final module. The remaining 70 points have to be earned during the semester. A passing grade equals 60 or more points, whereas an excellent mark requires a score of over 90.

“Another positive aspect is the increased mobility of students. They will be able to take a course at one university and another course at a university located in any country that signed the Bologna Declaration-without additional examinations. In time our graduates will start receiving European supplements to their diplomas, which will enable them to find jobs in Europe.

“Lecturers were the first to feel the disadvantages of the new system. Their actual workload increased while on paper it remained the same, as did their salaries. They had to change curricula, develop educational materials, and modify their approach to testing students’ knowledge in class. They were not used to working in this mode, and it was not easy to switch to the new model. Their psychology had to change.

“The transition was a lot easier for students because they were studying according to the new system from their first day of university. We have developed certain things that we are going to improve and implement step by step as the credit- and module-based system expands to involve students in all five years of study.

“For example, we plan to introduce certain technical aspects in teaching. Our university won a NATO grant for setting up a computer network, so we will be able to computerize the knowledge assessment procedure, and lecturers will be in control of the process. This will mean a reduced workload for lecturers.”

After the Bologna system, the specialist’s degree has become a thing of the past. Future graduates will either be bachelors or masters. Could you tell us more about this innovation?

“A four-year program leads to a bachelor’s degree after which students either take examinations to continue studying for their master’s degree or leave the university. I believe we may benefit by slightly modifying the existing model-reducing the bachelor’s program to three years of study and adding an extra year to the master’s program. The current four-plus-one system is not sufficiently effective. One year is not enough for a master’s degree because students have to greatly expand their knowledge of the major and take quite a few specialized courses. Four years is too long for a bachelor’s degree-basic knowledge in a field can be mastered within three years. One argument in favor of this system is that it has stood the test of time at many European universities.”

Is the entrance procedure going to change?

“Last year in Ukraine they started testing high-school seniors at independent test centers. The scores that students obtain there are recognized by universities. A high-school graduate can apply to different universities and for different majors, and then enroll in a university that accepts his or her score. Another step toward Europe is that universities are no longer responsible for entrance examinations — they simply set their passing grades and select students based on submitted documents.

“Provided that this kind of testing is indeed independent, a definite advantage is that it precludes bribery both at the stage of school graduation and entrance examinations. On the other hand, no method of testing will show how deeply a student can think, reveal his or her intellectual level, or yield an objective picture of the student’s knowledge.

“High-school graduates should remember that test scores are valid for one year. If you fail to enter a university with your test scores this year, you will have to retake the tests next year — unlike high-school graduation examinations. This year independent testing involved 30 percent of high-school graduates, but next year it will cover 100 percent.”