Serhiy Kvit19 August 2012 Issue No:235
To have a complete view of the higher education system in Ukraine, an
account of student movements is essential. Ukraine has a large number of
youth organisations that draw attention to problems in higher
education.
The website of the Ministry of Education and Science lists 88
organisations, but they represent only a small proportion of the real
number. Among them are professional, trade union, scout and political
groups, as well as various student-led organisations.
Their main feature is that they were established by young people – or
launched by those who ‘work with youth’. Therefore, the agenda of these
organisations is often formed either by independent volunteers or
directly by the government.
What is the ‘voice of universities’?
Active Ukrainian students do not totally understand the different
constituencies that universities represent. On 21 July, at the
All-Ukrainian Student Forum of Regional Coordinators, I answered this
question in the following way: first, universities represent the
research body; second, they represent expert knowledge; third, they are
official institutions with their own established positions; and finally,
they represent student voices.
In some cases, representatives of student movements can participate in
the expert knowledge process. They did so when the draft law on higher
education was being elaborated.
In a previous blog, I mentioned the report Inclusion of the Ukrainian System of Higher Education in the European Higher Education and Research Area, in which the Ukrainian Association of Students’ Self-Administration was featured.
Ukrainian universities normally dare not speak as public experts on
issues that are of interest to the whole society. It is a popular
misconception in Ukrainian society that universities have their own
expert opinion. It is the state government that speaks for them.
That is why the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute were
the only higher education institutions participating in the struggle for
the new progressive draft law on higher education.
Only a handful of universities protested against the draft law on
fundamentals of language policy in Ukraine, which is now being actively
promoted in parliament by forces that favour the ruling party. The
legislation is aimed at furthering the ‘Russification’ policy, which
started in Ukraine more than 300 years ago.
Among the protesting universities were the Ukrainian Catholic
University, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and the Ostrih
Academy. Nevertheless, only the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is currently working
on a deep analysis of the draft law.
Student action should target universities
When higher education institutions are passive, students’ voices
sometimes become the voice of Ukrainian universities. Student movements
should not just focus on external social transformation. Ukraine’s
universities need drastic change themselves. Therefore, student activity
should target universities more.
Firstly, they need to focus on democratising the administrative
processes, introducing university autonomy and establishing high-quality
Ukrainian universities.
The Centre for Society Research says the Ukrainian student movement is
the most successful in Europe. In 2011, it documented student
participation in 121 public protests in Ukraine. Most of these protests
were part of the Campaign against the Degradation of Higher Education,
and were aimed at preventing the enactment of the new draft law on
higher education initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science in
2010.
The campaign was initiated by the independent student trade union Priama Diya (Direct Action), the public movement Vidsich (Rebuff) and the Foundation of Regional Initiatives.
It is worth mentioning that other youth groups, as well as higher
education and school students, their parents and teachers, participated
in the actions held in Kyiv and different regions of Ukraine. Among
other organisations, the authors of the research mentioned the
All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda (Freedom), Opir (Resistance) and the Democratic Alliance.
In 2011-12 the Ukrainian student movement was victorious. In particular,
the authoritarian draft law on higher education was stopped, a new
working team was organised and the text of the new progressive draft law
was elaborated and passed by the Ukrainian government on 25 July.
Students also managed to get most of their social and economic demands
met, either by public bodies or by university administrators.
Although the achievements of the student movement are quite
considerable, the authors of the research conclude that it is still far
from being as strong as European student movements are. European
students are better at communicating with other protest groups, their
actions are much more radical, and their protest actions engage many
more participants.
The victories of Ukrainian students are due to the fragility of the
government rather than the strength of a well-organised movement.
The student movement and universities
What keeps a student movement from developing?
At first sight, the cause is obvious: the student movement in general
demonstrates a lack of understanding of current Ukrainian social,
economic and political realities. As a result, students often forget how
important qualitative transformations in their own universities are. In
spite of being successful at a national level, they do not have enough
rights in universities.
Second, this has a negative impact on university autonomy, because
autonomy can only be achieved through common efforts by the whole
university community – academics, students and staff.
Third, the student movement often copies Western models without
critically analysing them. For example, its representatives tend to
connect negative processes in higher education with neo-liberal trends
in politics. Ukrainian realities are quite different. Discussions on the
‘disadvantages of liberalism’ are not the most pressing issue in
Ukraine now.
The problems of Ukrainian higher education are connected with
post-soviet and post-colonial throwbacks such as corruption, fear of
real competition at national and global levels, a distorted
infrastructure, and the post-colonial narrowness of Ukrainian political
leaders, who are not able to understand the importance of science and
educational development for the formation of an effective modern state.
Fourth, a Ukrainian university has special importance as a social
institute that has a central role in the state reformation process. The
student movement neglects the social weight and impact of our
universities and is too influenced by ideological factors.
Fifth, these ideological factors misinform the broad student public. For
example, critical theory is confused with critical thinking in general.
Ukrainian universities are often presented as an objectification of
power in a wholly negative way and as an instrument for personal
enrichment at students’ cost.
Market mechanisms in post-totalitarian Ukraine should be considered from
the liberal position of the concept of the ‘free market of ideas’ and
‘free market’ principles for relations between higher education
institutions. This could result in the growth of university quality and
competitiveness. Corruption should not be presented as a demon or an
invincible evil; instead, it must be eliminated by necessary reforms.
Two revolutions
Young people love talking about revolution. Nevertheless, in Ukraine
there is not just one revolution. The first revolution is a social one
and is about making the system of government fairer and more effective.
The second is a national revolution, focused on the struggle for
Ukrainian independence, language and culture.
This kind of division is a huge mistake. A national revolution cannot
happen without a social one, and the converse is also true. The success
of the Campaign against the Degradation of Higher Education can be
explained by the uniting of ‘right’ (Vidsich) and ‘left’ (Priama Diya) organisations.
The provocative draft law on fundamentals of language policy, proposed
by the Party of Regions and the communists as parliamentary elections
approached, was vigorously opposed by the public movement Vidsich, while Priama Diya was totally indifferent.
However, a properly functioning civil society would not ignore a
government’s attempts to discriminate against the Ukrainian language,
especially in higher education and research. This issue is of the same
importance as social needs in areas such as healthcare. It also resulted
in student hunger strikes in Kyiv, which gained media coverage.
Social, economic, national and cultural demands in post-colonial Ukraine
should be part of one big movement. By coming together, Ukrainians can
help the country emerge from the politics of ‘blackmail’ and from a
state that is corrupted by oligarchs, and move it towards a more
effective and fairer democratic system.
There is no doubt that student movements will play a really important, maybe even a decisive, role in such change.
* Serhiy Kvit, a prominent commentator on educational issues, has
been rector of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy since
2007. He founded the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Journalism in 2001 and became
president of the Media Reform Centre set up to initiate open debate and
promote more transparent media and government. He served as chair of
the Consortium on University Autonomy from 2005-10. Kvit has published
several books and numerous articles. He has a PhD from the Ukrainian
Free University in Munich and also holds a doctorate in philology. He
was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to Ohio University in the
US, a Kennan Institute scholarship at the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars in Washington DC and a DAAD (German Academic
Exchange Service) scholarship at the University of Cologne.
