The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is proposing to raise tuition fees at higher education institutions. According to Deputy Minister Mykhailo Vynnytsky, the current tuition fees, especially at private universities, do not allow for high quality education.
Mr. Vynnytsky believes that the introduction of a system of grants for higher education could lead to an increase in its cost. He also emphasized that the current 25 thousand UAH per year is not enough for high-quality training of specialists.
«Quality education should be expensive. I can’t imagine how you can train any specialist in higher education for 25,000 hryvnias. And we have higher education institutions that offer this. Most of them are private, but still 25,000 hryvnias: come and pay. It’s just buying a diploma,”» said Mykhailo Vynnytsky.
As an example, Vynnytsky cited the cost of education in Europe. In countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, the average price is at least 3 thousand euros per year, and in Germany – 6-8 thousand euros per year. In Ukraine, however, the average contract price is about 1 thousand euros (46-47 thousand hryvnias).
According to the minister, this is why teachers have low salaries and education is of poor quality. Therefore, it is necessary to raise the average cost of training one specialist.
The Deputy Minister also noted that due to the limited financial resources of the state, it is necessary to introduce a system of co-financing. This means that part of the funds will come from the state budget and part from the private sector. This approach will help make education more expensive and of higher quality.
Raising the average tuition fee, he said, is an unpopular idea, but it is important to ensure equity and improve the quality of higher education in Ukraine.
Source: Judicial and legal newspaper