Every year Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Ukraine’s principal institution of higher education, admits about 500 foreign students. Young people of different religious faiths, mentalities, and life philosophies come from various countries to get an education in Ukraine.
Why are the attractions of a Ukrainian education? What is teaching foreign students in Ukraine all about? The Day asked Tetiana TABENSKA, dean of the Preparatory Faculty of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, and some students of this faculty, to answer these questions.
HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
In 17th-century Ukraine, there were about 1,000 foreign students studying at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, an institution of higher education founded in 1692. Ms. Tabenska says foreign students began arriving at Shevchenko University (KNU) in 1959. At the time, the Soviet government and this university were supposed to “carry out their international duty,” i.e., train skilled personnel and provide an education to young people from various countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. From 1959 until Ukraine’s independence, about 20,000 foreign students have passed through the Preparatory Faculty, while the university’s total enrollment was more than 6,000.
The faculty was re-established in 1997. People from various countries, most often from Asia, are now flocking to Ukraine to study the language from scratch. In Soviet times, most foreign students came from Africa, Latin America, and Asia (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Since 1998 most of them are from China and Iran. A small number of students are from Turkey, the Transcaucasus countries, India, Lebanon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and the US, but these are individual cases.
EUROPEAN STANDARDS AT BARGAIN PRICES
Kyiv National University has signed bilateral agreements on cooperation with 86 universities in 42 countries. Education in our university not only meets European standards but is also reasonably priced. For a foreign student who wants to obtain a European-level higher education but cannot afford to study in Western Europe, Ukraine is the best and most lucrative option. Ukrainian universities cannot charge excessively high fees because those with money would rather go to Oxford or the Sorbonne, but in terms of quality, our universities are almost on part with those institutions.
Lately Ukrainian education has been particularly in demand in China and Iran. “China is one of the world’s most powerful countries. It has great potential in terms of human resources, there are many young people who cannot get an education in their own country, and therefore they go to other parts of the globe. The same applies to Iran,” Tabenska says. Asked why they chose Ukraine to obtain a higher education, almost all the foreign students to whom we spoke said the same thing.
“A friend of mine suggested that I come here,” says Tornike from Georgia. “I planned to apply to the Faculty of Theater Production at Karpenko-Kary University. I just came to acquire good practice, because it is common knowledge that Ukraine has good technical equipment for this.”
“First of all, because Ukraine offers a high-quality education,” says Justin from the US, “secondly, it is interesting: the different culture and language help me to broaden my horizons. Of course, it is difficult to learn the language; I have to practice a lot. But it is easier for me because I have friends here.”
“My parents studied here in Soviet times. The education is high quality, so it’s clear why I came here,” explains Nelson, who is from Congo.
For Mark from Lebanon, “education in Ukraine does not differ essentially from Europe, but the fees are accessible. That’s very important.”
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN
Psychology, sociology, international relations, journalism, linguistics, biology, and even cybernetics, genetics, medicine, physics, and chemistry are the most popular disciplines among foreign students. Many of them complete their studies successfully and are even awarded Master’s degrees. But almost no one stays in Ukraine to work because it is not easy to get a job permit.
People come to Ukraine not just to get a higher education. Ms. Tabenska recalls: “There is a very interesting man in Kyiv. He came to Ukraine 21 years ago to study at our Preparatory Faculty with a group of other Angolan students. They did not even have a secondary education. Here, they were taught the language and given a school-based elementary education. After completing his studies at the faculty, this student went to a college and then to our university’s Faculty of Geology and Institute of International Relations. In 1994 he graduated from the university and returned to his native country. He is now the general manager of a large state-run company that extracts, processes, and sells diamonds. He visited Ukraine this year to express his gratitude for being taught here and to draw up a plan of scholarly cooperation between our two countries. Angola has a high percentage of people who received their higher education in the Soviet Union, including Ukraine. Now they want to upgrade their skills. They have nostalgic feelings because they spent their best years as students in Ukraine.”
WORK FOR LINGUISTS
What does teaching a foreign student mean to the state?
“Naturally, teaching a foreigner in our state is a question of the country’s image and investments in our economy,” Tabenska says. “Right now almost all foreigners, except for those studying under a special interstate contract, contribute to the state budget by paying for tuition, housing, meals, transportation, telephone, the Internet, entertainment, etc. This comes to nearly $200 million a year. According to sociological surveys, even the poorest student spends at least $5,000 a year. This money is used for paying salaries to teachers and support staff, publishing manuals, and creating the infrastructure of dormitories (renovations, procurement of furniture, payment of public utility fees, etc.).
“This also helps tap our country’s intellectual resources. For example, some Russian-language teachers, who lost their jobs after the collapse of the USSR, were retrained as Ukrainian-language teachers but failed to find employment at schools and colleges even though they were highly-educated professionals. So now they have a job at the Preparatory Faculty, where they teach foreigners Ukrainian and Russian. A powerful methodological base contributes to the fast and high-quality mastery of the language and specific disciplines. The university publishes manuals for foreign students, which are in demand in Italy, Canada, and other countries.”
