For the quality of higher education in Ukraine!

It has been more then a year since the accreditation of educational programs under the new procedure started in Ukraine. The analysis of the practice of the first year of its implementation showed that it is the largest and the most effective resource for qualitative changes in the higher education system both by number of process participants and its effectiveness. Along with the achievements during this time, there is number of issues that should be solved.

This specific questions were discussed at the hearings of the Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Education, Science and Innovations concerning: “Year of accreditation of educational programs under the new procedure: results, problems, prospects”. The primary objective of the event is to discuss current issues of functioning and development of the quality assurance system of higher education in Ukraine, defined in the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education” (2014).

The participants of the hearings became people’s deputies of Ukraine, such as: members of the Committee, the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Unions of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Student Self-Government, national experts on higher education reform and others.

The Vice-Rector, professor Maksym Karpash, by the way, is a certified training specialist of NAQA participated at the event and represented the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas.

The participants of the hearings discussed a number of issues, including: implementation of the system of educational programs accreditation: defining strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for improvement; the role of external quality assurance processes in higher education to strengthen the competitiveness of higher education in Ukraine; legislative changes in the activity of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance in order to improve the implementation of its full powers; the regulation of economic components of the accreditation procedure.

The Vice-Rector, professor Maksym Karpash expressed his opinion in a constructive discussion. He supports the functioning of current system, considers it an activator of positive changes in higher education and the way for international recognition. According to him: “Education is a matter of trust, first of all, concerning activity results of accredited bodies. Our position is to support current system. If we continue to work according to this accreditation procedure, the diplomas issued by Ukrainian universities will be more widely recognized in developed countries, so the number of foreign students will increase in the nearest future. And this means additional funds and our recognition abroad”.

Based on the results of the hearings, the participants prepared recommendations for assistance in the implementation of the initiated processes.

Presentation materials of MES:

http://kno.rada.gov.ua/documents/doc_arch/75640.html

Presentation materials of NAQA:

http://kno.rada.gov.ua/documents/doc_arch/75641.html