Education in Ukraine

Education is rooted in very old traditions reaching back to the pagan times...

In the 16^th-18^th centuries, an increasing number of schools were set up by national religious-educational communities — " Brotherhoods", for instance, in L'viv (1585), in Kyiv (1615), in Luts'k (1620). The Greek-Slavonic-Latin Collegium, Ukraine's first institution of higher learning, was founded in Ostroh in 1576.

At the turn of the 18^{, h} century the level of public literacy placed Ukraine ahead of a number of Western and Eastern European countries.

The first universities appeared in L'viv (1661), Kharkiv (1805), Kyiv (1834) and Odessa (1865). Later, " specialized institutes" were opened for training industrial, railroad engineers, agronomists, physicians and specialists in other fields.

Present-day independent Ukraine has inherited a rather developed system of education from the previous regime, which answers the standards of the developed countries.

General secondary education in Ukraine is used to be free but compulsory.

Despite today's hardships resulting in the economic crisis, a programme of educational reforms is aimed at integrating the national schooling system into the world's educational medium, at satisfying the people's national-cultural needs and protecting their rights, irrespective of their ethnic origin.

The educational system includes over 23, 000 so-called pre-school educational establishments where some 2, 000, 000 children are taught their mother tongue.

The basic link in the chain of public education in Ukraine is the " general education (grade) school", with 21, 350 schools and a student body of 6.9 million. Each has three stages: primary, basic and senior. Nowadays there is a new type of schools in Ukraine: gymnasia/gymnasiums (121), and lycees (124). Over 70 private schools have appeared recently.

There are 1, 176 vocational training schools providing almost 800 qualifications. In most of them (69%) the working students are also taught the complete curriculum of secondary education.

Post-secondary education is provided by 754 institutions of what is known as the l^st and 2^nd Level of Accreditation, for example, technical schools and colleges training young specialists, and by 161 institutions of higher learning, such as universities, academies, conservatories, institutes. There are 14 classical and 45 technological and branch universities, 30 academies and 72 institutes. Ukraine numbers a total of 1.5 million college-and-university students.

Institutions of higher learning enroll some 12, 000 foreign students, postgraduates and visiting graduates, of whom 8, 000 are on Ukrainian government scholarships. More than 130, 000 specialists from 130 countries across the world have graduated since World War II.

Among the well-known Universities in Ukraine are: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv Polytechnic University, National University of " Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", Kyiv State Conservatory, Kharkiv National University, Vinnytsia State Technological University, Simpheropol' University, Ivan Franko National University of L'viv, Donetsk University, Odessa State Naval Academy, Odessa State Economic University, Ukrainian Academy of Printing and many others.

Kyiv region (2006 est.) has 795 state day schools of general education, 219 (27, 5%) of which are situated in urban areas and 576 (72, 5%) — in rural areas. These schools are attended by 232, 260 students, namely, in urban areas — 141, 416 (60.6%) and in rural — 98, 944 (39.4%). Besides, there are 12 night (shift) schools with over 6 thousand students, 15 private institutions (about 7 thousand students), 23 vocational schools (over 14.3 thousand students), 22 higher schools (over 34.9 thousand students), 52 out-of-school institutions (over 48.7 thousand children).

Educational institutions for orphans, physically and mentally handicapped children represent an important component of the region's educational system.

The region also has educational institutions for gifted children: the Fastiv regional natural and mathematic school, the Kyiv regional lyceum of physical education and sports, the Stritiv higher pedagogical school of kobza players, the Brovary higher school of physical education.

In the region there are 756 institutions of pre-school education attended by 44.4 thousand children, 52 out-of-school institutions, 22 vocational institutions with 17.3 thousand students.