A Student Has the Right to...

November 17 marked International Students Day. In Ukraine it was celebrated for the fifth year in a row by 2.5 million Ukrainians currently enrolled in higher educational establishments. There are 485 college students per 10,000 people, the highest index in all the post-Soviet countries. This year, 6,000 more government-funded students were enrolled, compared to 2003. In May 2005 Ukraine plans to join the Bologna process, and together with the European countries, create a single European educational area before the year 2010. The All-Ukraine Student Council under the auspices of the President of Ukraine became one of the mechanisms forming the national youth policy. This consulting and advisory body was set up to better reflect the students’ position when determining and implementing Ukraine’s policy in the youth educational, labor, and social spheres, and to maintain constructive cooperation between the executive authorities and student organizations, and between student self-government authorities and Ukrainian schools of higher education. The Day asked the head of the Student Council, Andriy CHORNY, to comment on the most topical aspects of student life in Ukraine.

Do you think the recent stipend increase is a trend or a onetime occurrence?

A.Ch.: I consider it a positive phenomenon, of course. We all know that a student can’t live on fifty hryvnias a month, and a hundred hryvnias don’t help much, either. We will demand that our stipend be gradually raised to the level of the living wage.

How do you assess student self-government in Ukraine?

A.Ch.: Traditionally, the efficiency of student self-government depends on contacts and cooperation between the self-government leaders and the head of the university administration. If these contacts are effective, then student self-government develops. The problem is that the personal factor plays a very important role in these relationships. Domestic legislation leaves much to be desired in this sense and many issues are still unregulated. So we drafted our own bill with changes to the Law “On Higher Education.” It considerably broadens the scope of student self-government; thus, 15% of the academic council’s membership must be comprised of students, a student parliament or a trade union committee. They also have a right to defend a student who is being pressured by the administration. In other words, if this bill is passed, students and lecturers will become partners. This would be a very important step forward. Almost all the faction leaders who signed an agreement to secure the approval of pertinent changes by the Verkhovna Rada are in accord.

Trade unions (once known as student brotherhoods) are the most widespread form of student self-government in Ukraine. Don’t you think this and other forms of student self-government are Soviet holdovers? We know that in the West student parliaments are considered to be the most democratic and effective.

A.Ch.: Indeed, student unions could be considered that in a way, but it would be a mistake to say that they are ineffective at all institutions of higher learning. At some they cooperate quite normally with student parliaments; at others they are even stronger because they are additionally financed through membership fees. However, at some universities student parliaments are subordinated to the unions and this is certainly a negative phenomenon in student self-government. I think the future belongs to student parliaments.

How do you feel about benefits and social guarantees for students?

A.Ch.: We believe that students, whether they are studying under contract or commissioned by the state, have the right to enjoy reduced public, commuter, and rail transport fares.

They have finally paid attention to our demands and all students will have such privileges as of January 1. We will further demand that contract students be provided with certain material incentives — I mean students who excel — because they are still denied the right to receive stipends. Also, contract students must have the right to rest and recreation during winter and summer vacations, at tourist lodges and resorts. Higher schools raise special social relief funds, where 10% is allocated for this purpose. However, the problem is that the universities have no right to spend available funds on medical treatment and recreation. On our part, we have proposed changes to the relevant cabinet resolution and hope that the government allows the universities to use such funds.

Dormitory housing is perhaps the biggest student problem today. Is there any progress on this issue?

A.Ch.: Indeed, 80% of the questions that I am asked during meetings with students all over Ukraine are about this problem. It must be solved, and the sooner the better. Yet quite often student dorms lack hot running water, and six or even seven persons live in a single room; also, some of these people aren’t students at all, but wardens are letting people in for $100-200. Solving this problem is rather easy: introduce basic order, replace prorectors and wardens found guilty of abuses of office, and get student self-government authorities involved in this type of supervision.

Are there any allocations for universities so they can, for example, build one dorm per year?

A.Ch.: No, and that’s too bad. Universities, however, have considerable extra-budgetary funds. Also, a law was enacted recently allowing the financing of universities at three budget levels: local, regional, and private. The latter may also help financially revive institutions of higher learning. And I also agree that the state must make appropriations for the development of the university resource base, and the construction of new academic buildings and dormitories. As for the latter, it is simply necessary to put the place in order; people who are not students or teachers must vacate the space for those who study or work at the university. Letters were composed, approved by the minister of education, and forwarded to the university administrations, demanding more powers for the dorm student councils, so they can assign dorm accommodations, change them, evict unauthorized tenants, and decide on financial matters.

How do you think Ukraine’s accession to the Bologna educational system will affect its student life?

A.Ch.: One of the positive aspects, of course, will be the opportunity to study at a university for a year, then spend the next one at a different university, attending classes of special interest. Students will thus have a broader world outlook. This system will allow us to produce better qualified specialists who won’t be saying, “I need a job, please help me,” because employers will be looking and competing for them.

The Soviet system of post-graduation employment appointments is history. At the same time we don’t have any other effective mechanisms. Perhaps such appointments should be discarded?

A.Ch.: It’s true that the Soviet post-graduation employment system has long ceased to exist, so the Verkhovna Rada has passed the first-workplace bill, whereby the employer is given subsidies to hire university graduates. But students ought to realize that we live in a market economy, that having only a university diploma and no practical skills won’t do; no one will want you on their payroll.