Ukraine's Higher Education Institutions: Fighting Isolation

Jakub Parusinski

Statistically at least, Ukraine is one of Europe's educational heavyweights. It has a staggering number of higher education institutions (HEI), Europe's fourth largest group of graduate students after Russia, the UK, and France, and a long history of higher learning, dating back to the 16th century. Underneath the surface, though, is a system plagued with various afflictions.

To begin with, the country's HEIs are inadequately funded and corruption is endemic. These factors only serve to aggravate the poor performance of Ukrainian HEIs in terms of innovative research, contributions to global knowledge, integration with international networks, mobility of faculty and student populations, links with business, and offering conditions for the formation of national elites that will stimulate good economic and political governance.

In 2005 Ukraine joined the Bologna Process, which aims to create a European Higher Education Area and improve the quality of education across European states, as part of the political process of Europeanizing higher education. Although some progress has been made at the government level, bright spots are few and far between. Yet, even a 100% commitment to the goals of the Bologna Process will not solve Ukraine's problems with post-secondary education. To properly modernize the country's system of higher education requires fundamental reform and a comprehensive educational policy from the government and the will to change the way HEIs are governed – both of which are regrettably lacking.

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