Higher Education in Ukraine: Back to the USSR?

 National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy Responds – Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America Urges Support for Academic Freedom and Autonomy

Chicago - Ukraine’s Ministry of Education recently proposed draft law on “reforming” higher education in Ukraine has provoked a strong response from Dr. Serhiy Kvit, President of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy.  At a press conference held in Kyiv on December 9, 2010, Dr. Kvit stated that, “the changes proposed by the draft law would effectively roll back the Academy’s substantial achievements since its revival in 1992, returning higher education in Ukraine to the discredited Soviet era model of central government control”.

The proposals of Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk would remove university autonomy and the academic, financial and organizational freedoms of independent universities.  In addition, the proposed changes would discourage and prevent integration of Ukrainian education with European and Western standards of higher education. 

The proposed changes also would prohibit Kyiv Mohyla Academy from using English as a second language as an admission criterion.

In an open letter dated December 6th addressed to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Parliament Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, Dr. Serhiy Kvit warned that adoption of the draft law “will lead to a self-imposed isolation of the country in the sphere of education, as well as to the unacceptable degradation of the nation’s science, education and economy.”

In a related public statement by Kyiv Mohyla Academy’s Director of Doctoral Studies, Dr. Mychailo Wynnyckyj characterized the proposed changes in Ukrainian law as “an attack on the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy”, asserting that the draft law will “destroy the things that have made Kyiv Mohyla Academy one of the best and the most Western in Ukraine during the past 20 years.”

The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America (Chicago, Illinois) also strongly disagrees with the draft law’s proposed changes, and condemns the Ministry of Education’s attempt to reassert authoritarian control of higher education in Ukraine, and especially its interference with the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Ukraine’s distinguished institution of higher education. “The draft law will have a detrimental impact not only on Kyiv Mohyla Academy, but on all of the country’s universities. Without a strong, independent university system Ukraine cannot hope to achieve a leadership role among the nations of the world”, according to Marta Farion, President of Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America.  Ms. Farion also stated that, “the proposed dilution of university freedoms and independence are inconsistent with the educational objectives of National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, which this Foundation has supported and advanced.  University autonomy and academic freedom are at the central core of civil society”.

Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America urges Ukraine’s President, Prime Minister and Chairman [Speaker] of Ukraine’s Parliament to review and reconsider the proposed changes in Ukrainian law, and it encourages the interest and support of university, faculty and students around the world to register protests with members of the Ukrainian government.  

 Dr. Kvit’s open letter can be accessed on   www.ukma.kiev.ua/eng_site/news/addm/Open%20letter_NaUKMA_eng.pdf. 

The statement [appeal] of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy can be accessed on www.ukma.kiev.ua/eng_site/news/news_detailed.php?id=218.

For further information, contact Larysa Chovniuk, Vice President for Foreign Relations
Kyiv Mohyla Academy at Email: larch@ukma.kiev.ua or write to the Mohyla Foundation of America at mail@kmfoundation.com or visit www.kmfoundation.com

 First Fundraising Event and Silent Auction - January 19, 2011 - Support of the restoration of the “Old Academic Corpus” Building built by Hetman Ivan Mazepa in 1704 and help save the unique historic architectural landmarks of Ukraine located at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy for future generations. Tickets: $180; VIP $250 USD. For event information, email balatska@ukma.kiev.ua