From the introduction of the New Ukrainian School to the Arctic studies, from the updated courts to the complete reform of judicial and medical systems. Despite considerable criticism and, let’s be honest, a number of failures and questions, remained unanswered, last year turned out to be pretty productive for our country. On the results of educational, judicial and medical reforms and forecasts for this year ‒ in the material from DUMKA.
Educational reform
The past year for the Ministry of Education and Science, according to Minister Liliya Grynevych, was quite complicated and very intensive. First of all, it was the year of implementation of the three laws: the law on education, the law on higher education, and the law on scientific and scientific-technical activity in very complex parts of them. If you highlight the ten major achievements of the industry, then according to the ministry’s version it will look like this:
2018 from the needs of preschoolers to Antarctic research
During the last year, 22,000 new workplaces were created in kindergartens, which made it possible to reduce the queue in kindergartens by 13,3 thousand. They do not intend to stop at this, because the preschool institutions remain overloaded: according to the Ministry of Education and Science, there is a lack of 33,6 thousand more places. This is exactly what came to the first position: the ministry says that it was located not by importance, but from the smallest consumers of educational services to the oldest.
In the second position is the introduction of the New Ukrainian School. This is a new standard of studying, a modern educational space and teachers, who already know how to work on new methods. 448,5 thousand children sat at school desks; in 2018, a billion UAH was allocated for equipment, retraining of teachers, new textbooks and everything that accompanies this process, and this year another billion was added.
In addition, 286 additional support schools have been created ‒ and now there are 736 of them all in Ukraine, which made it more accessible. In the 1st grade, children went to school at the place of residence, and not at some dubious competitions, 561 inclusive-resource centers were created.
Last year, they also recalled vocational education, creating 50 educational and practical centers with modern equipment for training in the most critical shortages. Finally, the National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education has also been created. True, whether it will become that conscience of our higher education, which is considered by the National Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the Ministry of Education and Science, time will tell, but the first step has been taken.
Liliya Grynevych notes that entry to the master’s degree programme now is now carried only by external exams, and Deputy Minister of Education Roman Greba adds that the last serious steps have been taken to revive the school and university sport: for the first time in many years Ukraine did not just take part in the World Gymnasium (and that’s 12,000 students) but won in it.
A separate step is the development of Antarctic research. First of all, we talk about the technical modernization of the station “Akademik Vernadsky”, high-quality Internet connection with the station, which finally allows polar explorers to communicate normally with the world, and not quietly envy their colleagues from other stations. The full membership of Ukraine in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research was restored, and at the station itself, as it was at the very beginning, women will again work on a par with men, and much more. The Ministry of Education and Science also notes participation in international programs Horizon 2020 (114 projects of Ukrainian participants are funded by EUR 20,84 million) and a separate window “Erasmus +” (an additional EUR 5 million) and the fact that twice as many scientific institutions and universities accessed the Scopus and Web of Science databases.
What they want to do in 2019
So, the Ministry of Education is not going to stop there. Therefore, since January, all its officials promise to work hard to further reform the industry. Having felt, so to speak, a taste of reform on the example of changes in elementary school, now other areas will be more focused. First of all, they plan to develop and adopt a new standard for basic school, to take care of equipping normal modern toilets even in the most distant rural schools (this, according to Liliya Grynevych, provides for more than 267,000,000 UAH). It is also planned to launch new mechanisms for the professional growth of teachers. We are talking about certification, which one thousand elementary school teachers will be able to pass at their own will, and in the case of positive results, their salary will be increased by 20%.
True, the attitude towards future certification in society is extremely ambiguous. Both teachers and experts themselves point out that teachers are thus accused of ignorance, which is an attempt to shift responsibility from the institutions that need to provide high-quality higher education to those people, who have received poor-quality educational services, which should be provided under state control. To say it more simply, then teachers in high schools have not been taught properly, and now they are also forced to prove during certification that they have received their diploma for nothing. Therefore, a complex of questions immediately arises: Will a certificate, which teachers will receive after certification, be a document that can be trusted? Will there be a mechanism for such certification that applicants, who have not yet been eager for teachers at pedagogical universities, will carry documents there? Do not we lose on the quality of personnel? But this is a separate topic, which DUMKA will explore later.
As for the priorities of the Ministry of Education and Science for this year, it is said that absolutely all rural schools, without exception, will be computerized and the high-speed modern Internet will be held in them ‒ a billion UAH is provided for this. At the same time, among the priorities of the ministry is the start of large-scale vocational education reform. First of all, we are talking about its new standards. The infrastructure project with the EU provides for this 50,000,000 euros.
They promise to take care of the basic financing of science in universities, to which in 2019 it is planned to allocate 100 million UAH. Moreover, the main principle, noted in the ministry, should be the evaluation of scientific activity not of the university as a whole, but of its individual scientific directions. In higher education institutions centers for the collective use of equipment should begin to work. Moreover, the first 8 centers have already been created (the cost of one is 3,5 million UAH), another 4 should appear in 2019, but in general, 30,000,000 UAH is planning to be invested in the creation of such centers.
And it is this year that the Institute of the educational ombudsman should begin its work, which should become an effective tool both to improve the quality of education and to establish a microclimate and safety in schools.
The plans are really big, and teachers and parents of first-graders, if we talk only about the creation of the New Ukrainian School, point out many bottlenecks and unfinished moments. Therefore, as they say, wait and see, if in real life everything is as good as the officials of education hope for.
Judicial reform
There is total distrust of society to the judicial branch of power in Ukraine, and its reform requires close attention. Recently, the media even called the decision of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv on the resumption of Roman Nasirov as head of the State Fiscal Service even called the failure of this reform. What reforms have really taken place in this area?
“The reform has progressed quite successfully, and we can see its first achievements”, Valentyn Serdyuk, Ph.D. in law, professor, said to DUMKA. “For a year now, the updated Supreme Court (SC), which proves that vectors, outlined in the judicial reform, are seriously implemented. Competition in the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has been announced, the competition in the High Court on intellectual property and the second round of the competition in the Supreme Court are continuing. That is, in the first half of 2019 we will have three new full-fledged courts, planned by the reform.”
The fact that the new Supreme Court started to work, the competitions to the High Court about Intellectual Property continued and the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), was also confirmed to DUMKA by Markiyan Galabala, expert of the RPR Judicial Group. He noted in 2018 the passing of qualification assessment by judges, and the process of enlargement of courts. And he himself named 2018 the year of implementation of the latest legislative changes in the field of the judicial system.
“The very fact of the continuation of the above processes is the evidence of positive changes”, continued Mr. Galabala. “But their qualitative content sometimes raises questions, especially from the point of view of the excessive interference of Ukraine’s political elites. The deficiencies of the legislative technique also affect, for example, the parallel existence of the new Armed Forces and the “old” Armed Forces of Ukraine, the need to edit the law, so that judges in reorganized courts have the opportunity to continue listening to unfinished cases that they “inherited” from the liquidated courts. On the path of reforming, there is also a certain internal resistance to change on the part of the judges. After the introduction of the obligation to consider the petition of prosecutors for permission to conduct a search with a sound recording, many judges did not commit such audio recordings. The attempts to conceal the e-declarations of judges are also unpleasantly striking”.
And doesn’t the situation with Mr. Nasirov, reinstated by the capital District Administrative Court, indicate that the reform is doomed? In the opinion of Markiyan Galabala, the decision in this dispute characterizes a general tendency ‒ when a court case concerns top officials, the legal arguments of the parties fade into the background compared to the political ones.
“I read the court decision and understood that the court in this situation is actually a hostage of the imperfection of the procedures for dismissing a person from a position”, said Valentyn Serdyuk. “This is not a flaw of the court, it is an imperfection of the current legislation. And the court cannot come up with a provision, thus justifying or not the actions of a state body, in particular, the Government, about the dismissal of the named person”.
We are talking only about the intermediate results of the judicial reform. The plans for 2019, in addition to completing the Armed Forces and the beginning of the work of the All-Ukrainian Credit Union Association, the reform of the advocacy and the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Medical reform
The great transformation of domestic medicine has been going on for the third year. At first glance, it seems that nothing is changing ‒ there are still no medicines, free services, or quality service in hospitals. But in fact, 2018 was a year of significant changes. So, what can we be proud of now?
Creation of the National Health Service
The old medical model that we inherited from the Soviet Union had significant shortcomings in funding. Salaries of doctors did not depend on the quality of work. Hospitals were funded on a “bed” basis, not on the number of real patients. In addition, the money, allocated for the medical industry, often disappeared somewhere on the way to the hospital or went to finance mythical non-existent projects. This situation did not satisfy the patients or the doctors. Everyone dreamed of insurance medicine, where the insurance company covers the treatment of the patient, and the doctor receives a decent salary.
Therefore, in 2018, the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) was created ‒ essentially a state-owned insurance company, which accumulates funds, allocated for the medical industry. A new principle of financing began to operate ‒ “money follows the patient”. NHSU pays money to medical institutions only for the services provided. Better quality of services ‒ more patients ‒ more financing. Patients receive quality service, doctors have a decent salary.
Personal doctor
In order the principle “money for a patient” work, it is necessary for patients to independently choose a doctor from whom they wish to receive medical care. Having chosen a family doctor, a therapist or a pediatrician, you conclude an agreement with him or her, and the NHSU finances this doctor. More patients ‒ more funding: for the first time, the official salary of primary care physicians has reached competitive rates. A good example is the primary care center of the city of Balta, where doctors already in 2018 received 20,000 UAH each month.
In total, 23 million Ukrainians have already chosen their personal doctor. And this is more than optimistic expectations. And according to the Rating group, 76.6% of respondents are satisfied with their choice and the quality of services from a personal physician. From now on, your doctor guarantees free prevention, counseling and treatment.
From July 2019, the free diagnosis program from your doctor will start. Effective cooperation with NHSU was also interested in private medical centers. Therefore, from now on, Ukrainians can find a personal physician even in private medical centers and receive the aid for free.
There are all vaccines on the national immunization schedule
Vaccinations for the majority of Ukrainians were associated with negative for a long time. There are several reasons for this. Vaccines were often either absent or intermittent. Often, the origin of these drugs did not suit the patients. In 2018, the state transferred the vaccines procurement function to international organizations, in particular, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Due to this, their quality is guaranteed by the WHO. Therefore, all vaccines that are in the country are safe and effective. We can protect ourselves from 10 dangerous infectious diseases: hepatitis B, tuberculosis, measles, parotitis, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and CIB infection.
In general, the purchase of drugs by international organizations overcomes corruption in this area, so that the state does not overpay twice the price for necessary drugs.
New quality of training of doctors
Quality treatment begins with professional staff. Each developed country allows only the best applicants to study for a doctor. Therefore, from the admission campaign of 2018, in order to apply for admission to medical universities, each applicant must pass the EIT for at least 150 points. In this way, only motivated graduates can be chosen. Medical students already this year will рфму an international exam on the fundamentals of medicine. We hope that gradually our medical education will approach world standards.
Telemedicine for remote villages
Everyone understands, unfortunately, the quality of medical care is highly dependent on the place of residence. In rural areas, patients often live 40-50 km from the nearest district hospital, the more regional medical centers. Modern communication technologies allow diagnostics and consultation with highly qualified specialists through telemedicine.
In 2018, a large project for rural medicine began. In the districts, equipment has already been purchased, which allows the family doctor or paramedic to conduct research in a remote village, the results of which are obtained by narrow specialists from the district or regional hospital and immediately consult a general practitioner. Thus, time is reduced and the quality of diagnostics and treatment improves. Most outpatient clinics in the Odesa region have already received such equipment.
All these steps created the basis for further reform of the medical industry. In 2019, we are waiting for the ambulance reform, the start of work shifts in the work of hospitals, the creation of conditions for organ transplantation in Ukraine, and many more important steps to create modern medicine in Ukraine.
Text by Larysa Vyshynska, Viktor Tsvilihovsky, Svyatoslav Linnykov
