Marlee Bonnette

GCU114
Education in Ukraine
Ukraine is interesting to look at it in terms of education and
where it lays after years of Soviet imposition. It is of great
responsibility that this country is acknowledged in its pursuit of better
education along the guidelines of putting every child in school,
improving the quality of learning, and fostering global citizenship.
Should all three of these global priorities be met and maintained,
Ukraine is destined for greatness and a safe future.
Priority 1: Put Every Child in School

(Graphic from http://data.worldbank.org/country/ukraine)

Measured from 2012 by UNICEF, Ukraine has 100% primary school
participationand then 84.5% secondary school participation (Ukraine,
2013). Young children are consistently remaining in school, but that
consistency appears to gradually decline upon secondary education

pursuits. This can be assumed to be the result of not mandating

secondary school for students, where most of them choose to instead
attend vocational schools that mainly allow them to filter into their
communities rather than pursue higher levels of education. All in all,
Ukraine does an efficient job in placing its spending to keep primary
schools fully populated with students.
Priority 2: Improve the Quality of Learning
The United Nations Development Program ranks Ukraine's
education system on the par with large European Union countries like
the United Kingdom or Poland. But unfortunately, those impressive
achievements are explained by the resources the nation inherited from
the Soviet era (Podvysotska, 2012). Presently, Ukraine is in its battle
to reinforce its own country, free to create its own reform and
standard. As the Soviet Era seeps from Ukraine, its influence does
remain. Improving the quality of learning is defined by Ukraine as the
establishment of a purely Ukrainian philosophy on education, and that
reform is not to be enacted amidst its civil crisis. The system in place
now, proving successful by the statistics of attendance and
participation, is at least a firm placeholder before such reform
commences.
Priority 3: Foster Global Citizenship

(Map from http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=196)

The map above shows the proportions of literate adults that
populate the countries of the world. Ukraine is placed moderately on
the map, helping it to become a global competitor along with China,
Russia, and the United States. In its current political-social upset, its
place on the global stage is stressed. Education is not and evident
priority in a classroom sense, but in both a worldly and patriotic sense.
Once the unrest settles, Ukraine is expected to be reinforced and well
equipped to make its way higher up into the global realm.
Sources:
Ukraine. (2013, December 31). Retrieved from:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_statistics.html
Priorities. (2011, January 1). Retrieved from
http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/priorities.html
Podvysotska, T. (2012, August 30). Ukraines education system in
critical need of

overhaul. Retrieved from

http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/all-key- stakeholders-shouldreset-the-education-system-311972.html