The business community of Ukraine supports the initiative of Sweden’s Folkuniversitetet, located in the city of Uppsala, to implement international projects related to employment and professional training of future specialists in Ukraine. In the long-term outlook, such measures are expected to double the level of employment. The Swedish side is willing to give a comprehensive assessment of interaction between educational institutions and employers, and the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) can help with this initiative as the most powerful association of the Ukrainian business community and industry. The main thing here is how to adapt the Ukrainian educational sector to the standards used by the European Union, especially on the eve of opening of markets in January next year, and further closer integration with the EU.
The Swedes managed to reform this sector 20 years ago, after joining the European Union. These processes are the biggest impetus to change in countries. In addition to the adaptation to Western standards, which will facilitate the exchange of specialists, recognition of academic diplomas, etc., Ukraine must modernize mechanisms of employment of graduates.
“Ukraine in fact lacks policy and strategy for encouraging the employment potential, which has a direct connection with vocational training. At the same time, properly trained specialists are a decisive factor of economic competitiveness. These issues can be resolved only through dialogue between the government, businesses and the public, with the involvement of our international partners,” the ULIE’s representatives said.
The projects proposed to Ukraine have already been successfully tested in many countries, according to Director of the Department for International Cooperation at the University Ali Rashidi. They aim to create a certain synergy between the education and business spheres, i.e. between supply and demand. “If a graduate is not employed, the whole process of education was ineffective” ‒ this is the slogan our Western partners live up to.
This model provides for a clear definition of companies’ demand for various specialists and engagement of their representatives in the educational process. Ali Rashidi claims such measures were conductive to an increase in employment in Sweden from 45% to 95%.
“When Ukraine joins the EU, you’ll have to adapt your educational sector to the EU standards ‒ and there are many of them, namely qualifications, the quality of education and others. So now it’s time to assess the quality of education in Ukraine and start its upgrading,” the Swedish expert said.
Having received funding from its government, the University plans to launch such a pilot project in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and later it will be extended to other regions in Ukraine. The University counts on the ULIE’s support, having secured such support from the Ukrainian Education Ministry beforehand.
The parties agreed to work actively in that direction, and the ULIE has pledged to help with direct contacts, involvement of SMEs as the most flexible and suitable participant in this project.
