Ukraine spends more than 6% of GDP on public education (well above other middle income countries), and such spending per student should lead to better learning outcomes. The Ukrainian educational system needs to adjust to an ever decreasing population, which it has not done so far. While the number of students in primary and secondary fell by 35% since independence (from 1990/1991 to 2008/2009 schools year), the number of teachers only fell by 2% and the number of schools – only by 4% in the same time period. This reveals that the number of schools, classes, and teachers, key components of the bulk of educational expenditure, have not adjusted downwards, as it would be expected.
Currently, the student-teacher ratio for both primary and secondary is among the lowest in Eastern Europe, with 9 students per teacher. Class sizes are also decreasing, as a result of the loss of students year after year. Average class size decreased from 22.2 students in 2001 to 18.5 in 2008 (in urban areas from 26.8 to 23.6, and in rural areas from 16.6 to 13.2). By the end of the 2008/2009 school year, 1210 primary and lower secondary schools had less than 40 students (22% of total number of such schools). And the gradual but tiny increase in birth rates since 2002 has not yet had enough power to reverse these trends.
The Workshop
A workshop entitled "Using Resources Efficiently - Consolidating the School Network in Ukraine: What are the Challenges? What are the Options?" was held in the premises of the World Bank office in Kiev on February 25th and 26th. This workshop was jointly organized by the World Bank and the European Training Foundation (http://www.etf.europa.eu/) and drew approximately 70 participants from a variety of institutions across Ukraine. The event was also attended by a delegation from Moldova.
The workshop included plenary sessions on demographic trends, the role of financing incentives as potential policy levers for consolidation purposes, and sub-sector-specific (general secondary education or GSE, vocational education and training or VET) presentations of key issues in the consolidation agenda of the country, including illustrations of ongoing efforts within Ukraine (e.g. the Kiev Oblast network consolidation plan for GSE) and outside Ukraine (e.g. the examples of consolidation efforts in Estonia, Bulgaria in GSE and Netherlands and Russia in VET).
The dynamics of reform, per student finance and decentralization of the education systems in ECA region were discussed during the workshop with an aim to identify solutions on how Ukraine could optimize its education resources and make better and more efficient use of its facilities and vast network of training institutions in VET and GSE. It was clear to participants that modifications to the existing financing system (which is made on a block grant basis to the rayon but provides limited incentives for optimization), a higher degree of school autonomy following the consolidation of the system and a larger degree of accountability (to ensure access and quality) are needed to increase efficiency and effectiveness of spending.
Welcome Mr Pablo Saavedra, Senior Country Economist, Acting Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, The World Bank
09.10 – 09.30
Objectives of the workshop Ms Mamta Murthi, Education Sector Manager, The World Bank Mr Arjen Vos, ETF Deputy Head of Operations Department
09.30 – 09.40
Introduction to the workshop issues and structure Mr Timo Kuusela, ETF Country Manager for Ukraine
09.40 – 10.10
Ukrainian school: realities and strategies for modernization Mr Pavlo Poliansky, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and Science
10.10 – 11.00
Presentation of results of analysis: Demographic, social and economic trends in Ukraine, and their impact on enrolment in various types of educational institutions Ms Ella Libanova, Director, Institute of Demography and Social Study, National Academy of Sciences Ms Larysa Lisogor, Head of Department, Institute of Demography and Social Study, National Academy of Sciences
DISCUSSION
11.00 – 11.20
Coffee Break
11.30 – 13.15
PLENARY SESSION How financing can be used as an instrument/incentive? Chairperson: Ms. Anna Olefir, Education Economist, The World Bank
11.00 – 11.50
Per Capita Financing of General Education and its Role in Creating Incentives for an Efficient School System: International Experience Ms Rosalind Levacic, International Consultant, The World Bank
11.50 – 12.20
Can per capita financing in education help to consolidate the network of schools? Assessing the Evidence Mr Lars Sondergaard, Senior Economist, The World Bank
12.20 – 12.40
Optimization of network of secondary and vocational schools in Kyiv region Viktor Butnyk, Head of the General Department of Education and Science, Kyiv Region, State administratio
12.40 – 13.15
PANEL DISCUSSION Reflections on the presentations in terms of the context of on-going reform in Ukraine and existing experience of GSE network optimization by three discussants and reflections from participants Mr Pavlo Khobzei, Head of Department on Education and Science, Lviv Oblast State Administration
Ms Galyna Vasheka, Director of Department for financing education, science and culture, Head of Division for Education Financing, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine
Ms Iryna Shcherbyna, Director, Institute for Budgetary and Socio-Economic Research
13.15 – 14.15
Lunch Break
14.15 – 15.40
PLENARY SESSION What aspects need to be addressed to rationalise the VET network? Chairperson: Mr Arjen Vos, ETF Deputy Head of Operations Department
14.15 – 14.45
The Dutch case: experience and lessons learned from the VET institutions’ network optimization in the Netherlands Mr Tom Visser, CINOP, the Netherlands
14.45 – 15.10
The Russian case: issues and challenges for VET institutions’ network optimization Mr Kirill Vasiliev, Education Specialist, The World Bank
15.10 – 15.30
Optimization of the VET institutions’ network in the view of its adaptation to the needs of modern economy Mr Tymofiy Desyatov, Head of VET Department, Ministry of Education and Science
15.30 – 16.00
PANEL DISCUSSION
Reflections on the presentations in terms of the context of on-going reform in Ukraine and existing experience of VET network optimization by three discussants and reflections from participants
Mr Ivan Vetrov, Head of Department on Education and Science, Rivne Oblast State Administration
Ms Natalya Zinkevych, Deputy Director, State Employment Service
16.00 – 16.30
Coffee Break
16.30 – 17.30
PARALLEL BREAKOUT GROUP SESSIONS From theory to practice – issues for Ukraine
GROUP ONE:General Secondary Education Facilitator: Mr Juan Diego Alonso, Education Economist, The World Bank Rapporteur: Ms Natalia Sofiy, Head of the Board, Directorate for Education Development Programs, Ministry of Education and Science
GROUP TWO: Vocational Education and Training Facilitator: Mr Timo Kuusela, ETF Country Manager for Ukraine Rapporteur: Ms Larysa Lisogor, Head of Department, Institute of Demography and Social Study, National Academy of Sciences
DAY TWO,February 26, 2010
09.00 – 13.00
PLENARY SESSION Chairperson: Ms Scherezad Latif, Senior Education Specialist, Task Team Leader of Education Project, The World Bank
09.00 – 09.10
Report from Group One: General Secondary Education Ms Natalia Sofiy, Head of the Board, Directorate for Education Development Programs, Ministry of Education and Science
09.15 – 09.30
Report from Group Two: Vocational Education and Training Ms Larysa Lisogor, Head of Department, Institute of Demography and Social Study, National Academy of Sciences
09.00 – 10.30
Questions and Discussion
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee Break
10.50 – 12.35
CLOSING EXPERT PANEL Are radical actions needed to make the education system use available resources efficiently? Facilitator: Mr Timo Kuusela, ETF Country Manager for Ukraine Mr Yuriy Vitrenko, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy Mr Pavlo Polyansky, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and Science Mr Vasyl Kremen, President, Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the NAS Ms Ella Libanova, Director, Institute of Demography and Social Study, National Academy of Sciences Ms Mamta Murthi, Education Sector Manager, The World Bank Mr Arjen Vos, ETF Deputy Head of Operations Department
12.35 – 13.00
Conclusions and next steps Mr Juan Diego Alonso, Education Economist, The World Bank Ms Olena Bekh, ETF Education Specialist
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