Since early August is the time when higher educational institutions announce the names of those recommended for admission, applicants watch with bated breath the movement of rating lists and wait for their “happy wave.” The admission campaign comprises three waves of enrolment, in each of which the applicant has two days to submit original documents to the department they have chosen.
It will be recalled that the number of school leavers in 2011 is 42 percent smaller than it was in 2010. So it is quite logical that this time universities vied for applicants, not the other way round. It is widely believed that, given the lack of competition among the sought-after applicants, the level of their knowledge is lower than that of their predecessors.
To see who the 2011 applicant is, what they do and dream of, I have visited three higher educational institutions in Kyiv in an attempt to gauge their mood.
ALMOST ALL OF THEM APPLIED IN A HOPE TO FIND A NON-FEE-PAYING PLACE SOMEWHERE
The government has reduced its quota by 20 percent throughout Ukraine. As the number of applicants has dropped almost twofold, they stood greater chances.
My first interviewees were the applicants’ parents who had been side by side with their children all the way from choosing the profession to standing in long lines in order to fill the application. Moms and dads are satisfied with everything: they submitted, albeit slowly, all the required documents avoiding too much stress. Almost all of them seized the opportunity to apply to as many institutions as possible in an attempt to find a non-fee-paying [government-funded. – Ed.] place in at least one of them. Many of them chose to reapply, as they were not sure that the electronic admission system was in order.
FEE-PAYERS DISREGARDED PROTESTS OF THE “AGAINST DEGRADATION IN EDUCATION” MOVEMENT
I asked both parents and students about their attitude to the “Against Degradation in Education” movement which emerged in response to the proposals to amend the Law “On Higher Education.” [Den/The Day has published a lot of materials that spotlighted the public debate on this law and the failure of the Ministry for Education and Science to heed the advice of civic organizations. – Author.] Most of the 2011 applicants have heard something about such student problems as having to pay for every missed class, reduction of non-fee-paying places, and increase in the minimum number of points for being entitled to a scholarship. But, paradoxically, none of those interviewed had looked into the matter or taken part in the protests on the grounds that actions of this kind were not held in the regions. A still interesting situation is with the fee-payers: most of the potential “buyers” of higher education are unaware of having to conclude a short-term contract with a university, which will carry an annual rise in tuition fees.
“How can I attend these events if I work at two jobs to scrape money for admission? I do not know who organizes these protests, and it will take too much time to figure this out. A news bulletin reports that students like the draft law, then the next footage shows the protesters who claim that their complaints were not taken into account,” an applicant’s mother comments.
STUDENTS DO NOT HIDE A DESIRE TO LEARN A LANGUAGE AND LEAVE THIS COUNTRY
The joyful and determined applicants readily share their visions of the future after they have gained education in the chosen field. Many applicants to the University of Linguistics do not hide a desire to learn a foreign language and leave this country in search of a better life. Absurdly enough, these students want to study at Ukraine’s expense but work in, say, Germany (young Ukrainians consider it the most promising country and one that offers the easiest way of gaining citizenship). Only two applicants managed to convince me that they were willing to develop the Ukrainian school of translation, when they recalled several names of well-known present-day Ukrainian translators and astonished me with sky-high points in the foreign language.
Applicants to the University of Physical Education and Sport are dreaming of going in for sports, the favorite occupation in their lifetime. As they see no serious prospects in Ukraine, they sincerely hope to achieve success in life by means of their records and victories. They are not yet going to move abroad, although they do not rule out this possibility. Most of them would like to live and work in Ukraine because they feel attached to their relatives, are used to the current living standards, and have no good command of a foreign language. I failed to communicate with applicants to a private institution due to their absence at the admission committee premises.
APPLICANTS WHO HAVE GAINED FEWER THAN 124 POINTS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED EVEN TO PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS
I managed to interview Olena Machnaieva, executive manager of the admission committee at a private university.
“This year the university made an all-out effort to attract students. We have decided to meet applicants halfway and offer them a 50-percent discount in the first year of study. We provide them with residence hall accommodation and allow them to pay tuition fees on an installment plan. We often see applicants who have passed only two independent tests, while, to be admitted to our university, one must pass three tests. We advise this kind of students to apply to technical secondary schools and gain the diploma of a ‘junior specialist.’ With this diploma in hand, one can transfer, by interview, to the third year of studies at a similar department of a partner university. There are also applicants who have scored fewer than 124 external test points: under admission regulations, they cannot be enrolled even to private educational institutions because admission to all accredited educational institutions is carried out by means of the competition system controlled by the ministry.”
NUMBER OF THOSE WHO WISH TO STUDY ABROAD HAS RISEN TENFOLD
A number of academic exchange centers, which have been actively working in Ukraine for years, offer Ukrainian school leavers opportunities to get an education in European countries, with Poland being the most popular among the Ukrainians. Just a few years ago, studying abroad was a privilege for at least middle class representatives. Given the low quality of today’s educational services, corruption, and outdated research principles, studying abroad seems to be a farsighted decision rather than a “bourgeois” perk. Common sense suggests that it is better to spend the same 15,000 hryvnias on studying at a renowned European university and receiving a degree that will be recognized in most EU countries. Incidentally, European educational institutions are pursuing a very friendly policy towards foreign fee-paying students. For example, in some Polish universities, if you have gained the average semester point of 4.8 out of the maximum 5, you will be eligible in the next semester for a scholarship that covers the cost of studying for this period. There are also bonuses to encourage foreign students to perform well. And can you win a bonus at a Ukrainian state-run institution if you are a fee-payer? According to one of Ukraine’s educational agencies, the number of Ukrainian students who wish to study outside this country has gone up tenfold in the past five years.
“I have always dreamed of entering the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and as recently as six months ago I was ready to apply there for a master’s degree. Before that, I had been exploring the possibilities of studying abroad, filling up application forms, and taking foreign language tests. I was lucky to win a grant to study journalism in Germany. What became a serious blow to me was cancellation of the governmental quota for master degree programs in sociology and journalism in the Academy, for a lot of my group mates were planning to continue studies there, and not all of them can financially afford to do so,” Alina Shevchenko says.
