Scholarships for the best teachers is rather unusual but quite practical in Ukraine. A presentation of a scholarship fund for the teaching staff of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy National University (UKMA) took place Friday two weeks ago. The International Commercial Bank and the university raised funds to assist joint student-teacher research projects (incidentally, yet another contribution to the fund was announced during the presentation; it was received from Liubomyr Buniak, chairman of the board of Druzhba Arterial Oil Pipelines). The first beneficiaries were economists Iryna Lukyanenko, Valery Kuzmenko, and Mykhailo Mykhalevych.
Oleksandr Savchenko, ICB chairman of the board, spoke at the presentation, noting that most universities across the world, particularly Harvard, operate as powerful financial corporations. An unidentified individual is said to have deposited a dollar to Harvard’s bank account a very long time ago, specifying that it was not to be touched and that only interest could be drawn from the account. Years passed, interest grew as new donations were made. The International Commercial Bank decided to follow suit in its own way, contributing to the UKMA account. From now on this money will help develop Ukraine’s economy, and the interest will be used to further Ukrainian science and scholarship. Mr. Savchenko’s idea was not spontaneous as he used to teach in the UKMA Department of Economics (he is a professor of economics). After traveling far and wide and having founded ICB, he decided to initiate investment in Ukrainian learning. UKMA President Vyacheslav Briukhovetsky supported the idea and a jury was established to select scholarship recipients. Throughout the year the beneficiaries on the university teaching staff will receive between 200 and 400 hryvnias in addition to their regular monthly pay. The selection board will award scholarships on an annual basis first, then the term will be extended to five years, so the teachers could feel more confident. This time the selection criteria were governed by the desire to retain and attract the best experts in the field, so they could both teach and implement their own research potential. The criteria will change in several years, as one’s research papers, scientific school, and other factors will be taken into account.
Although the fund is small, at least for the time being, the event as such is very significant, marking the beginning of a new pattern of financing higher education in Ukraine.
