Society

“Reform or imitation?”: why the modernization of Ukrainian universities is stalled

ANALYSIS FROM

The reform of the network of higher education institutions (HEIs) initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) has encountered a number of serious obstacles and has been criticized for its lack of consistency. The Accounting Chamber conducted an audit of these activities for the period of 2021-2024 and made disappointing conclusions: instead of structural renewal, the country received a series of ad hoc decisions that caused resistance among educators and students. What went wrong and how to fix it – Komersant ukrainskyi figured it out.

Ambitious plans and real practice

The Ministry of Education and Science has stated the need to reform the network of higher education institutions to increase their competitiveness and meet the modern needs of society. However, according to the audit, only seven out of 20 government decisions on university reorganization have been implemented. Others are either at different stages of implementation or have not been started at all.

The reform was aimed at consolidating universities by merging smaller institutions. This was supposed to improve the material base, increase human resources, and expand educational programs. However, data shows that neither employees nor students have experienced positive changes.

Lack of a clear strategy

The Accounting Chamber found that the reform process lacks systematic approach. The main problems include:

• Lack of a regulatory framework. The draft law on the modernization of the HEI network has not yet been submitted to the Government.
• Insufficient analytics. The MES does not have complete information about the state of the network and does not take into account the risks of reforms.
• Subjectivity of decisions. The selection of universities for reorganization was carried out without clearly defined criteria.
  
  

The MES has also not developed a roadmap and a medium-term reform plan, as envisaged by the Higher Education Development Strategy for 2022-2032. None of the 11 reorganizations planned after its approval has been completed.

Resistance and distrust among educators

The biggest challenge to the reform was the dissatisfaction of its participants. According to a survey conducted by the Accounting Chamber, only 3.7% to 34.8% of employees and students support the reorganization. More than 75% of students and 47-94% of employees did not see any changes for the better after the merger.

Among the reasons for this resistance:

• Lack of communication with university staff.
• Failure to take into account stakeholders’ opinions in the decision-making process.
• Lack of transparent justification for reorganization.
  
  

Financial and logistical unpreparedness

The university reform also faces financial problems. For example, investment packages for basic higher education institutions, which were supposed to be an incentive to participate in the reform, have not been implemented. Despite the approval of 31 investment projects worth USD 4.8 million. The funds have not yet been allocated, and procurement has not been carried out.

There are also difficulties with the inventory of property due to the lack of title documents. An additional barrier is the financing of separate university units, which fell on the shoulders of local budgets that are not ready for such a burden.

What to do next?

The Accounting Chamber recommends that the Ministry of Education and Science make systematic and transparent decisions to restore confidence in the reform:

• Develop a legislative framework for the modernization of the HEI network.
• Conduct an audit of universities and approve clear selection criteria for reorganization.
• Introduce regular discussions of reform plans with educational teams.
• Provide funding for investment projects.
  
  
  

Whether the MES initiative will be successful depends on its ability to take into account the recommendations and bring key stakeholders back to the reform side. Without this, the modernization of the HEI network will remain declarative, and education will remain stagnant.

Author – Anastasia Fedor