Climate Change Education in Ukrainian Universities…
387
3 Contextual Profile
3.1 Quality Education and Climate Action in Ukraine
In September 2019, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to
ensure compliance with 17 goals of sustainable development of Ukraine for the period
until 2030 (Decree of the President of Ukraine on September 30 2019 № 722/2019).
He instituted an expert group to analyze the compliance of state program documents
to Ukrainian SDGs in two-month term, and to establish a working system of monitoring of SDGs’ realization. At the same time, analyzing Ukrainian obligations on
Agenda 2030, a formal rather than real baseline and benchmarks are indicated in
“Sustainable Development Goals: Ukraine” national report provided by the Ministry
of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine in 2017. A closer look at the national
targets related to SDG 4 (Quality Education), a strong focus on primary and secondary
(school) education in set, leaving out of board the university level. For the national
SDG target 4.4 “Improve the quality of tertiary education”, a number of university
towns is set as an indicator, which cannot be regarded as a qualitative one. Despite
the fact that key recommendations for achieving the goal include a task to “update
learning content by introducing curricula on sustainable development”, ESD is not
mentioned in the indicators and the report itself. Moreover, it is stated in the report,
that “the level of school enrolment and the literacy rate of the adult population are
traditionally high in Ukraine”, which contradicts with the current analytical findings
on the educational reality (Kahkonen 2018; OECD 2017; CEDOS 2015; Filiatreau
2011).
According to the World Bank data, in 2017 Ukraine spent 5.4% of GDP on education, which is one of the highest rates of public spending on education in the world,
keeping the same tendency of previous years (CEDOS 2015). At the same time,
according to an independent analytical review (CEDOS 2015), Ukrainian teachers
“are paid several or even up to ten times less compared to teachers in Western Europe,
as well as throughout the post-Soviet and post-socialist camp”. Along with that, a
high level of academic corruption is highlighted in the Ukrainian higher education
recently (Filiatreau 2011; OECD 2017; Friedman and Trines 2019).
At the certain extent, it explains the situation with a rather low quality of the
formal higher education in Ukraine, in terms of international integrity, transparency,
teaching methodology, and content. “Both the approaches towards teaching and
towards learning are out of date… Lessons are overburdened with theoretical knowledge and lacking in practical application, while textbooks are academically dry…
dampening motivation and curiosity among students” (Kahkonen 2018). The last
version of the Ukrainian law “On Education” tries to change the situation by prioritizing competencies (and the “environmental awareness” as one of them) rather
than theoretical knowledge by means of lifelong learning under the “New Ukrainian
School” concept—a key reform of the Ministry of Education and Science since 2017
(The New Ukrainian School 2016). However, ESD, as a core component of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, is not presented both in the Ukrainian national
387
3 Contextual Profile
3.1 Quality Education and Climate Action in Ukraine
In September 2019, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to
ensure compliance with 17 goals of sustainable development of Ukraine for the period
until 2030 (Decree of the President of Ukraine on September 30 2019 № 722/2019).
He instituted an expert group to analyze the compliance of state program documents
to Ukrainian SDGs in two-month term, and to establish a working system of monitoring of SDGs’ realization. At the same time, analyzing Ukrainian obligations on
Agenda 2030, a formal rather than real baseline and benchmarks are indicated in
“Sustainable Development Goals: Ukraine” national report provided by the Ministry
of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine in 2017. A closer look at the national
targets related to SDG 4 (Quality Education), a strong focus on primary and secondary
(school) education in set, leaving out of board the university level. For the national
SDG target 4.4 “Improve the quality of tertiary education”, a number of university
towns is set as an indicator, which cannot be regarded as a qualitative one. Despite
the fact that key recommendations for achieving the goal include a task to “update
learning content by introducing curricula on sustainable development”, ESD is not
mentioned in the indicators and the report itself. Moreover, it is stated in the report,
that “the level of school enrolment and the literacy rate of the adult population are
traditionally high in Ukraine”, which contradicts with the current analytical findings
on the educational reality (Kahkonen 2018; OECD 2017; CEDOS 2015; Filiatreau
2011).
According to the World Bank data, in 2017 Ukraine spent 5.4% of GDP on education, which is one of the highest rates of public spending on education in the world,
keeping the same tendency of previous years (CEDOS 2015). At the same time,
according to an independent analytical review (CEDOS 2015), Ukrainian teachers
“are paid several or even up to ten times less compared to teachers in Western Europe,
as well as throughout the post-Soviet and post-socialist camp”. Along with that, a
high level of academic corruption is highlighted in the Ukrainian higher education
recently (Filiatreau 2011; OECD 2017; Friedman and Trines 2019).
At the certain extent, it explains the situation with a rather low quality of the
formal higher education in Ukraine, in terms of international integrity, transparency,
teaching methodology, and content. “Both the approaches towards teaching and
towards learning are out of date… Lessons are overburdened with theoretical knowledge and lacking in practical application, while textbooks are academically dry…
dampening motivation and curiosity among students” (Kahkonen 2018). The last
version of the Ukrainian law “On Education” tries to change the situation by prioritizing competencies (and the “environmental awareness” as one of them) rather
than theoretical knowledge by means of lifelong learning under the “New Ukrainian
School” concept—a key reform of the Ministry of Education and Science since 2017
(The New Ukrainian School 2016). However, ESD, as a core component of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, is not presented both in the Ukrainian national