Higher Education Reform in Ukraine during the Transition Period: On the Path to Renewal

Abstract

The article discusses the challenges and factors impeding the education reforms in Ukraine despite the continuous efforts to modernize the higher education system. It considers the major provisions of the new Higher Education Law of Ukraine (HELU) and their alignment with the requirements of the Bologna Process for the country to integrate in the European Higher Education Area. With the volatile economic and political current situation in the country, the government and educators try to set in motion the proclaimed reforms. The authors argue that a more comprehensive and holistic approach to policy deliberation and implementation is needed to make the law and regulations work. Frank Fischer’s policy evaluation framework (1995) is believed to be instrumental in developing a strategy for reforms evaluation and execution. The Ukrainian experience in boosting reforms in higher education is valuable for the countries in transition and could be interesting to education analysts and policy makers for it informs the ongoing discourse about the role and issues of higher education in the globalized world.

Keywords: higher education modernization, reform implementation, policy deliberation, renewal.