Higher education in Ukraine: past overview, present state and future perspectives

The presentation gives an overview of the development of higher education in Ukraine focusing on contemporary education policies and some of the problems the country faces in implementing education reform. It provides brief historical survey of the higher education in Ukraine, past and present education development in the country. It covers policy and structure of the Ukrainian education system and present key education issues in the country. The talk also presents the social and political issues which impact on the higher education system and governments’ responses to recent local, regional and global events. The presentation mostly focuses on the modern reform of the higher education system in Ukraine. The primary purpose of it was to achieve true quality improvement in higher education and the transformation of Ukrainian educational system to become truly competitive in the European Union. The presentation analyzes the provisions of the new Law on Higher Education which are underpinned by a democratic and pro-European agenda. It follows the progress of the reform of the higher education system in Ukraine, implementation of the Law, significant challenges in its implementation, arising out not only of the long-established nature of the post-Soviet higher education system, but also from the continued war in the eastern region of the country and present Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.