The provision of higher education has long been considered one of the greatest achievements of the Soviet system, with a relatively high percentage of the population graduating from the thousands of universities, colleges and technical institutes which were established during the Soviet era. However, since independence the already existing tendency towards graft and bribery has become institutionalised to the extent that today’s education system is considered one of the most corrupt spheres in the entire country.
This is increasingly serving to undermine the credibility of academic qualifications and forcing potential employers to evaluate candidates independently without being able to rely on their academic record alone. “Traditionally, higher education has been viewed as more of a prerequisite than a recommendation, and today’s employers expect it even for positions which technically might not require a university degree. Experience and personal appraisal are far more important when assessing future employees,” explains Valentyn Tymoshenko, director of the Kyiv recruitment firm Management Consulting.
Marketing specialist Vira Protopopova of recruitment company Personal-Service agrees that companies are no longer content to accept academic qualifications alone when looking for future managers. “A diploma in itself is no longer enough to land a good job. The main requirement in today’s market is experience,” she offers. With the economy booming and good quality graduates at a premium, these concerns will not affect the job market in the near future as demand continues to far outstrip supply, and with the vast majority of young Ukrainians on the job market possessing some form of higher education, the number of university entrants looks set to rise for the foreseeable future. The ever increasing number of students will be entering into a system which even by Ukrainian standards is riddled with bribery and unofficial payments. Graft has become such a pillar of the education system that the head of the Ukrainian police’s anti-corruption force rated it as the most corrupt sector in the entire economy for 2006. “Ukraine’s universities took first place nationally last year in terms of the number of bribes paid, beating state officials, public utilities, tax services and medicine,” commented anti-corruption bribery expert Oleksandr Makarinskiy in the daily newspaper Segodnya.
President Yushchenko added his own observations to the debate last week when he commented that corruption in education is second only to that within the militia and customs services and stands on an equal par with corruption among the courts. “This poses a threat to the quality of our entire education system,” the President added.
Despite this widespread corruption and what is a highly critical public attitude toward the quality of modern Ukrainian education, the number of students is growing with each year. According to the State Statistics Committee, in the 2004/2005 academic year students numbered 2.026 million, in 2005/2006 enrollment rose to 2.203 million and for 2006 it climbed to 2.318 million.
Not everyone is convinced that they are receiving a high quality product, however, and survey results suggest that confidence in education has been shaken by the extent of corruption in the system. “Only 16% of Ukrainians classify the level of domestic higher education as high quality,” comments Mykhaylo Mishchenko of the Razumkov Centre. A 2006 poll demonstrated that some 21% of those surveyed responded negatively when questioned about the quality of Ukrainian education, while 50% thought it average at best.
Free education can be expensive
Only 260 of Ukraine’s 20,000 schools are private, with the rest offering the free education that is enshrined as the right of each and every Ukrainian in the country’s constitution. However, in practice this free education can end up costing significant sums of money. From their children’s tentative first days at school all parents are introduced to the phenomenon known as the parent fund, which is basically a system whereby every child donates money once a month or half year to the class kitty, which is then used for sundry expenses such as birthday gifts for pupils, class outings or classroom repairs. This is an entirely unofficial and theoretically voluntary system which involves relatively small sums. An average half-year contribution could be USD 10-20 per pupil. In a country where citizens have long since grown used to the idea that state funds cannot be relied upon to meet the needs of public services such as schooling, these contributions are widely viewed as reasonable and justified. But for single parent families surviving on tiny budgets, even these small fees can represent a significant burden, and the negative consequences for the child of opting out mean that few parents are willing to take the risk of non-payment.
Gifts as graft for cheating teachers
The old Soviet practice of presenting teachers with gifts of flowers and chocolates on public holidays, name days and birthdays has evolved in recent years into a ritual of its own which now often involves expensive gifts given to win a teacher’s favour or secure good grades for an unpromising or errant student. There is a certain innocence about presenting luxury gifts that both teacher and pupil enjoy, and even direct cash payments can be dressed up in this manner to create the impression of a legitimate present. The plethora of occasions on the annual calendar which are considered as causes for celebration goes a long way to help facilitate this gift-giving culture, and the teachers themselves tend to be discrete about such acts of wanton generosity.
The practice of bribing teachers to award children with the coveted gold and silver medals given to the best pupils remains commonplace in some schools but is by no means universal. Volodymyr Skyba, who heads the department overseeing secondary school education development at the Ministry of Education and Science, says that only 6% of all school graduates in 2007 received medals. “This is exactly the level we would expect,” he comments, explaining that if there were any cases involving bribery for medals they had not been informed, even though there is a system in place to encourage pupils or their parents to report corruption.
Many wealthier parents looking to provide their child with the best educational opportunities and exasperated by the corruption common in the public school sector opt to enroll their children in one of Ukraine’s growing number of private schools, where fees are set down and clearly defined from the outset. Tuition fees range from around USD 300 up to as high as USD 1,000 per month, and this usually includes food and excursions as well as textbooks, pencils and other study kits.
Most private schools frown on the practice of encouraging kids to request additional tutoring outside of school hours, something that is widespread in the public sector. They also tend to discourage the whole gift-giving culture as part of a conscious effort to maintain their credibility and avoid accusations of corruption. “Every private school is concerned about its public image,” explains Olena Movchun, the director of the Kyiv Private Schools Association, adding that they strive to be seen as honest and legitimate educational institutions.
However, semi-official payments exist even in Ukraine’s most expensive private schools. For example, one such elite establishment asks for charitable contributions of USD 400 when parents move their child from another school. Parents anxious to see their child succeed in his or her new learning environment are generally unlikely to refuse.
Higher education, higher prices
The biggest academic headache for any parent is finding a place for their child at university, and unsurprisingly this is where the most active shadow market of bribes and informal contacts operates. Most prestigious state institutes offer both officially paid places and free spots for the best candidates who excel in entrance exams. In practice, both these study options also require generous bribes. Any Ukrainian child who has graduated from school has the right to a free higher education if he succeeds in passing the standard entrance examinations. Theoretically, any smart schoolboy has the chance to gain a place on his dream degree course for free, but the harsh reality is that most places are reserved for those with the cash and the connections to warrant a prestigious education.
“Bribery offers guarantees, whereas entrance exams involve risk. I don’t believe in taking chances,” explains one Kyiv student who works as a middle man between teachers and future students. “There is always a chance in a hundred that you will get in for free, but I personally know of cases when candidates have sat their entrance exams hoping to get into their dream courses when the university officials have already sold off all the free places earmarked for top students,” he adds.
Planning for a university place often begins as early as half a year prior to the start of entrance exams. Parents will begin their search by contacting a middle man who can facilitate the process of purchasing a place on a course through illicit payments. This could be a teacher from the university, a student or a mutual acquaintance. The ideal person to deal with is a teacher who will be sitting on the coming entrance commission. In such cases, parents can reduce costs by avoiding paying any middlemen who also have to receive their share of any bribe. Usually the bribe required for a state-funded place will amount to the official price of studying as a paying student, or perhaps marginally less. There are some very prestigious departments where competition is so high for the limited number of places on offer that prices are significantly higher.
Additional ‘contributions’ are unavoidable in such circumstances and prices can easily double if demand is particularly intense. According to a poll conducted by the Razumkov Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies in 2006, the most popular and prestigious degree subjects are currently law, economics and medicine, and entering these faculties is therefore accordingly expensive.
According to a report in Segodnya the biggest bribe paid in 2006 for a place at university was USD 20,000, but this is by no means exceptional and is an indication of the kind of sums changing hands in order to secure places at the country’s leading institutes.
Understandably, prices vary greatly from institute to institute, with Ukraine’s most prestigious universities charging significantly higher rates than their less esteemed regional rivals. A number of polls and surveys conducted by recruitment companies has identified Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko National University, Polytechnic Institute and Mohyla Academy as the most popular, with the Institute of International Relations, an affiliate of Shevchenko University, as the most sought after academic body in the country.
Official prices for paying students in most Ukrainian universities range from USD 1,000 to 4,000 a year, depending on demand. For example, Shevchenko University offers degree courses for future biologists at just USD 1,070 a year for a five-year course, while studying at the elite department of international relations costs around USD 3,500 a year. These official fees are relatively low when compared to those charged at international institutes such as America’s Harvard University, where the average cost of a degree course is USD 32,000 a year, or even Moscow’s Lomonosov University, which charges an average of USD 5,000 a year.
A little help from your friends
Once they have gained a place at university many students will find themselves continuing to pay their teachers in-kind for everything from mid-term exams to all-important credits that they must accumulate if they are to gain their diploma. Some teachers demand a set fee from every student, regardless of their academic proficiency or grasp of the subject at hand, and will automatically fail anyone who refuses to pay. Other common practices include the paying of third parties to sit exams for lazy or limited students. This is a lucrative line of work for unscrupulous graduates but offers no guarantees as the imposter could conceivably fail the exam.
It is also increasingly common for students to rely on internet and agency services when producing reports and diploma papers. A whole industry has emerged offering to do the hard work for students without the time or the talent to produce the necessary academic reports, and it has become so commonplace that adverts promoting these services can often be found close to every Ukrainian university. The average price is usually in the region of USD 1 to USD 4 per page, which means that a major research paper could end up costing at least USD 300.
