Higher education reform in Ukraine (2014 - 2022) in the reception of domestic social media

Abstract

The Purpose of the Research. It is important to elucidate the content of the media discourse on the higher education reform in Ukraine, to single out the main topics covered by the Ukrainian mass media, and also to indicate an analytical and evaluative component of the materials on the reforms in higher education. The chronological framework of the study (2014 – 2022) is determined by: a) the end of the Revolution of Dignity and the coming to power of pro-European governments in Ukraine, b) the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, which suspended the reform process temporarily. The research methodology is based on the principles of scientificity, systematicity, as well as the use of discourse analysis as an interdisciplinary approach to the study on mass media space. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the directions and substantive aspects of the issues on higher education reform of Ukraine have been elucidated in the discourse of social media (2014 – 2022) for the first time. The Conclusions. Therefore, the reception of the reforms in the field of higher education by the Ukrainian media was concentrated around several aspects that formed the basis of the media discourse in this direction. Firstly, the content of the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”, adopted in July of 2014, was covered in detail. In general, the approval of the law was called “the first real reform after the Maidan”, although there were opposing opinions about the creation of “corruption risks”. Secondly, the media discussed the success and failures of the reform, noted such achievements as autonomy of universities, formation of a system for ensuring the quality of higher education, growth of the role of student self-government, and activation of international activities of universities. On the other hand, the mass media noted the failure to solve the problem of scholarship payments and outdated approaches to the state order for the training of specialists with a higher education diploma. Thirdly, the changes introduced in 2016 to the requirements for scientific and pedagogical staff to obtain the scientific titles of Professor and Associate Professor were highlighted. Fourthly, reforms in the field of higher medical education were described, which were related to the strengthening of requirements for the level of training of applicants and students (introduction of a high passing score at admission, testing of students' knowledge using American tests). Fifthly, for some time the mass media discussed the issue of a formulaic principle introduction of funding distribution among universities, introduced by the government resolution at the end of 2019, giving both positive and critical opinions. Sixthly, the Ukrainian media were not sufficiently interested in the work of National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education, focusing only on a number of scandals regarding the formation of its composition.