Modern Ukraine numbers dozens of people, namely youth, willing to become successful and rich in their country. The vast majority of those striving for a successful career in the future are well aware of its dependence on the education background.

A competent employer would undoubtedly prefer Harvard or Prinstone graduates. Sadly but very few Ukrainians can boast of prestigious university degrees. Average entrants can hardly afford education in high-rank universities with global recognition. But our motherland has a long list of educational establishments readily admitting future specialists. It covers highly-respectable universities with a long history and a authority in the global community. For example, Kyiv Shevchenko National University is just 58 years younger than Prinstone University (the first was established in 1834, the second - in 1776).

The long-standing reputation of Kyiv National University leaves obviously little doubt as for the high-rank of diplomas it trains. However, the university has its limits and can’t educate all applicants. Luckily, Ukraine numbers dozens of high schools readily admitting the entrants. But what is the way to make a good choice out of numerous offers? How to find a university providing good education - the quantity often affects the quality.

There is some good news for those seeking top-quality higher education. System Capital Management supported by Rinat Akhmetov’s Foundation for Development of Ukraine (FDU) has financed the first Ukrainian university ranking called Compass. It is based on the assessments provided by graduates and employers. The task set by the project managers was to classify universities offering the most practice-oriented education that satisfies the needs of the real economy sector and guarantees strong employment prospects for the graduates.

“Ukraine numbers today over 920 higher education institutions of I-IV accreditation degrees, excluding branches of universities”, explains FDU representative Dariya Kasiyanova,.“Annually around 552,000 graduates obtain diplomas of higher education. A lot of universities train students in very specific professions. Almost every institution has a department of economy and law. However, statistics show that around 26% of graduates fail to find a job in the profession they studied. They have to obtain additional education or receive another degree.

“On the other hand, employers are often dissatisfied with the graduate skills and increasingly often speak about the inevitable need to invest in re-education of their employers”, continues Dariya Kasiyanova. “We think that as the system of higher education grows and getting more commercial, Ukraine provides no information about  correlation between the cost and quality of education services. Also, the specific features of academic programs in different institutions aren’t known just like employment prospects of graduates. The consumer gets lost in numerous offers and finds it challenging to make a choice to match priorities and the needs of the modern labour market.

The idea to rank universities didn’t come out of nothing. The FDU initiated Professional Ukraine project two years ago to help young people make an informed choice of the future profession. The project was designed for senior pupils of secondary schools and junior students. The team of experts sought to define and promote certain patterns of interaction between higher education institutions and employers. The campaign generated the idea to develop an independent ranking of universities based on the employers’ assessments.

“Problems in education in our country should certainly be solved by joint efforts”, says Dariya Kasiyanova. “Compass ranking targets to advance social dialogue in this area and understanding that the universities are responsible for the quality of education they provide. Close relationships between the universities and employers play the vital role to make the specialists meet the labour market standards and be demanded. Our Compass ranking will be a useful tool in making decisions”.

Prior to outlining specific features of Compass program, SCM’s manager Nataliya Krivulina told us about international university rankings. She said that national and world rankings are distinguished in the global practice.

“For instance, the ranking of USA universities and colleges classifies them into a strict hierarchy with each having an individual place in a group. The ranking is based on the assessments made by academics and academitians. First published in 1983, the ranking has undergone some transformations and exists up to now”, explains Nataliya Krivulina. “Great Britain has two national rankings evaluating research activities of higher education institutions and the quality of education they provide. Employer opinion is vital for British rankings”.

“Germany has a very strong ranking too, however it seeks to assess certain professions rather than universities as such. Secondary school levers are the target audience of the German ranking. They can use an online form to make up a ranking of their own by putting universities into categories depending on the fixed set of criteria necessary for the future work. The German ranking has no places. Instead, it offers three groups: high, intermediate and low levels marked in a certain colour”.

“Shanghai rating is considered the biggest and most prestigious among global rankings”, continues SCM’s manager. “It was developed by Shanghai National University and is regarded as the first global ranking. It shows the gap between Chinese higher schools and the leading international universities. The ranking is very specific and focused on R&D activities of universities. These rankings are based on open sources of information”.

As for national classifications, Ukraine has several rankings. Most of them seek to assess the status and image of universities as well as their characteristics necessary for state accreditation. The experts say that the most criteria of our national rankings are focused on the process, rather than result. Those few rankings that covered employer opinions to make final conclusions were based on a small number of employers and didn’t include graduate opinions at all. Apparently, when choosing a university to enter many school leavers explored the list of national rankings which are as follows: ranking by Sofiya Kievskaya, ranking by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, ranking by Dengi magazine based on employers opinions and best universities ranking by Korrespondent magazine. There is also Ukraine Top-200 by Technical Analysis Department at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute based on information submitted by universities and verified by their presidents.

“The quality of Compass makes it different from the ratings offered to consumers before”, assures Nataliya Krivulina. “Research was carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology . Partners of the project are BEST Information and Analytical Centre and the World Bank. Compass covers 228 higher education institutions of I-IV accreditation degrees training specialists in five major areas: business/economy, law, engineering/technical professions, information technologies (IT) and architecture/construction. The experts sought to assess practical value of education for students intending to work in the real sector of Ukrainian economy”. 

“The reason for SCM to have initiated the ranking was the growing lack of qualified specialists in the real economy sector caused by a gap between the market needs and the skills obtained by graduates of national universities”, says the company manager. “A special method of ranking was developed for the project. The method offered was highly assessed by national and foreign educational experts and fully matches international practices. The expert board included Helen Pekh, World Bank representative; Vasily Kremen, academician in education; the leading experts of Ukrainian Employment Centre as well as Confederation of Employers of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Compass ranking comprises 20 rating positions broken in five professional areas and regions.

The top-20 among 212 universities in the business/economy education field includes the following:

The first position is held by Kyiv V.Hetman National Economic University and National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Employers and graduates believe that Kharkov Yaroslav the Wise National Academy of Law provides the top legal education. Top 10 places are taken by 88 universities.

The first position among engineering/technical universities (10 positions for 108 institutions) is shared by Dnepropetrovsk National Mining University of Ukraine and National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”. Besides, KPI is also training the best IT professionals (10 positions for 99 institutions).

As to architecture and construction, graduates and employers believe that the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture is the absolute leader (5 positions for 31 institutions).

Compass ranking also gives a comparative analysis of Ukrainian universities by regions. Thus, Lviv Polytechnic National University was acknowledged the best higher education institution of western Ukraine (Volyn, Zakarpatye, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov, Rovno, Ternopol, Khmelnitskiy, and Chernovtsy regions). Kiev Shevchenko National University leads in the central region (Kiev City, Kiev, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Kirovograd, Poltava, Symy, Cherkassy, Chernigov oblasts). The first place in southern Ukraine (the Crimea, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozh’ye, Nikolayev, Odessa oblasts) is held by Dnepropetrovsk National University (Dnepropetrovsk), whereas Kharkov Yaroslav the Wise National Academy of Law is believed to be the best institution in the east.

“When compiling the ranking, we took into account basic characteristics of higher educational institutions, as well as opinions of students, graduates, employers and experts”, says Valdimir Paniotto (Kyiv International Institute for Social Studies). “We could have appraised the universities just by analyzing all these components, however the existing characteristics turned out to reflect potential of the institution rather than quality of education provided. As you know, comfort facilities and spacious rooms can’t ensure high quality of education.

“I’d like to stress that this analysis is objective and inevitable for Ukraine. Moreover, it has far-reaching prospects”, says Yelena Osinkina, member of BEST Information and Analytical Centre. “The society had been expecting the ranking, which could reflect the social value and efficiency of education establishments. The absence of an independent ranking prevents the society from accumulating information on the quality of education services. It also blocks a competitive mechanism in the area of education. When the economy is developing by market standards, the system of education faces appropriate demands. But when the system of education has its own inner laws of development, this might cause a range of puzzling questions.

For instance, why is the education system always complaining of lacking the funds, when the government has been allocating increasingly more (6% of GNP - higher than in EU countries)? The complaints concern lower salaries compared to other sectors of economy, out-of-date facilities, etc. Why, after all, with a huge number of educational facilities, can’t Ukraine boast of an innovative breakthrough in development of human capital in terms of economic competitiveness? Why does each third person registered in the unemployment agency, with all that spendings on education, has a complete higher or undergraduate degree?”

“Compass ranking is a warning to the society”, believes Yelena Osinkina. “It targets to draw attention of the society, experts and the government that make decisions about education reforms,to the issues concered with further development of the assessment system: Do we need so many higher institutions? Do we need general higher education, with its being so easily available? There is a range of questions as for the mechanism of funding the higher education facilities. Should we, for instance, finance this industry according to the quality of specialists in trains? To my mind, the ranking primarily targets to highlight the problems of higher education, initiate the reforms of the high school and help the universities realize what people think of them.

The second Compass ranking updated with comments of experts and main consumers (graduates and employers) will be prepared by next May, just in time for the new student admission campaign 2009.

By Ihor Shantsev, for DailyUA
10 October, 2008
http://www.vstup.in.ua/news/353.html