Transition to a new list of specialties: what prevails – positive changes or reorganization costs?
The other day, the government made a decision to introduce the “New list of fields of knowledge and specialties” into the Ukrainian education system. Instead of 28, it will now have 11 industries integrated to European standards. What is this innovation for? The Ministry of Education and Science explains the transformation of higher education by the need to bring the country’s domestic legislation into compliance with European legal norms.
What does it change? The standards of higher education, which are approved for each specialty, will be updated in accordance with EU regulations, which will facilitate the academic mobility of students. The MES expects that Ukrainian higher education will be able to integrate as much as possible into the Single European Higher Education Area. In addition to European integration, this decision is strategically important for further implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Individual Educational Trajectories”. In the near future, the ministry promises to prepare a table of correspondence between the 2015 list of fields of knowledge and specialties and the new list approved today.
Education systems vary greatly between countries. Therefore, international data on education should be based on a classification that offers for all countries of the world reliable criteria for the distribution of educational programs at levels that can be considered comparable. The ISCED classification – the International Standard Classification of Education – was developed by UNESCO in the mid-1970s with the aim of such unification and was first revised in 1997. A further revision of ISCED was carried out between 2009 and 2011, including extensive global consultations with countries, regional experts and international organizations. Finally, ISCED 2011 was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011. The new classification took into account changes in education systems, mainly related to the Bologna process.
The desire of the Ministry of Education and Culture to strengthen our European integration efforts is quite understandable, but will the transition to a new classification of specialties and branches really contribute to the reform of education? The transition to a new classification of specialties and fields creates certain challenges for Ukrainian higher education institutions. On the one hand, they will get a chance to integrate into the European educational system, which will open up new opportunities for students, teachers and scientists. This can help improve the quality of education, increase mobility and cooperation with foreign universities, as well as recognition of Ukrainian diplomas abroad.
On the other hand, the implementation of these changes will require significant efforts on the part of higher education institutions: they will be forced to review and update their curricula, adapt the training program, revise documentation, and perhaps even revise the structure of individual specialties. In the short term, this may cause certain difficulties, as well as increase the load on teaching and administrative staff. Is it time for a change in a country where there are problems with electricity and other resources needed to implement change? It is important that they are accompanied by methodical and resource support in order to avoid chaos and loss of quality of education.
It is also worth noting that ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) is a tool used to collect, compile and analyze cross-national comparative education statistics. This classification was created in order to facilitate international comparisons of educational programs and their levels, as well as to provide a unified approach to the evaluation of education in different countries.
Therefore, in order to fulfill the tasks of the Ministry of Education and Science regarding the integration of the Ukrainian education system to European standards, it is not necessary to change the list of specialties. Instead, it is possible to establish correspondence between the available Ukrainian specialties and the categories defined in the ISCED. Such an approach would allow preserving the already existing system of classification of specialties, while ensuring its compliance with international standards.
In addition, even in the proposed new list of specialties, it is not always possible to achieve a mutually unambiguous correspondence between Ukrainian specialties and ISCED categories. This means that several specialties in the new Ukrainian classification may correspond to one position from the ISCED list, or vice versa — one Ukrainian specialty may correspond to several ISCED categories. Thus, changing the list of specialties does not necessarily resolve the issue of compliance with international standards, and in some cases it may lead to difficulties in establishing exact correspondences between systems.
Therefore, instead of a complete reorganization of the list of specialties, perhaps a more effective step would be to simply adapt the existing system to the requirements of ISCED, establishing clear correspondences between categories. This would avoid significant changes and expenditure of resources, while ensuring the achievement of the set goal.
There is one more important point. World practice shows that over time, the list of specialties in higher education institutions does not narrow, but on the contrary, expands. This is due to the need of universities to respond to rapid changes in society, economy, science and technology. Universities adapt their programs, add new specialties and areas of training to meet the demands of the labor market, innovations in various fields and the interests of students. Thus, the expansion of the list of specialties occurs naturally, according to the needs and requests of the universities themselves, and not due to directives from above.
The proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to narrow the list of specialties contradicts this trend. If such changes are introduced as directive decisions, this may limit the universities’ ability to update and develop educational programs, and may not always take into account the real needs of the labor market and society. There is a risk that new innovative fields of knowledge and specialties will be overlooked, which may negatively affect the competitiveness of Ukrainian education.
In addition to European integration, this decision is strategically important for further implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Individual Educational Trajectories”. According to it, students can choose individual educational paths, that is, independently form their study programs in accordance with personal interests and professional goals.
In the near future, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine plans to prepare a table of correspondence between the old List of fields of knowledge and specialties, approved in 2015, and the new List approved by the government. This table will help align old and new specialties, which is important for the implementation of individual educational trajectories. This will also allow students studying under old programs to move to new educational trajectories, as well as ensure compliance of the Ukrainian education system with the standards of the European Union.
The head of the Ministry of Statistics, Mykhailo Fedorov, explained that the harmonization of educational fields with European standards will significantly reduce bureaucratic obstacles, simplifying the process of admission to European institutions of higher education for master’s programs or participation in exchange programs. This means that Ukrainian students will be able to adapt more easily to the requirements of European education, as their diplomas and study programs will meet EU standards.
The minister emphasized the importance of adapting each sphere, particularly education, to European norms, which is one of the priority tasks for Ukraine. According to him, from next year, Ukrainian students will start entering educational institutions according to new standards, which will provide them with more opportunities for study and career growth in Europe.
The Ministry of Education and Culture noted that from now on, educational institutions will be able to indicate specialties from the Ukrainian list and their international counterparts in supplements to diplomas. The masters of the winter graduation and their curators will be the first to experience the innovation.
