Literacy
2.7.1.
Traditionally, literacy has been quite high in Ukraine. The country’s adult literacy rate –those age 15 and over that can read and write—in 1999-2006 was, according to the UNDP Human Development Indicators, 98.9%, divided in 99.0% for men and 98.8% for women, of course resulting in nearly 100% women to men parity (UNDP 2008). For 2007 the youth (15-24-year-olds) literacy rate was with 99.8% for both sexes quite high; this level had already been reached in 2001 (MDG Indicator 2.3, derived from UN MDG Indicators and based on UNESCO data).
Education of girls
2.7.2.
While education is free, universal, and from 2001 on compulsory during 12 years from entrance age 3 (preschool) until age 15, the public education system in 2008 and 2009 continued to suffer from chronic un- derfunding, and children from poor families continued to drop out of school before turning 15 (US Dept of State 2009, 2010). As a matter of fact, in 2006 school life expectancy was 10.4 years: 10.5 years for males and 10.4 years for females (UIS 2010), thus considerably shorter than the compulsory duration. The World Bank (2010b) shades the underfunding issue, and argues that Ukraine spends more than 6% of its GDP on public education (well above other middle income countries), but does so ineffi ciently. Input “norms” of the Min- istry of Education and Science, for example, have led to very small class sizes, but Ukraine ranked below regional comparators (including Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and the Baltic countries) in international achievement tests for fourth and eighth graders. As of 1 January 2010, a fi nancial reform is set in motion, by which general education schools have the option to independently manage the resources assigned from the state budget (wikipedia Education in Ukraine). It is interesting to note that teaching in primary schools is nearly exclusively a female job: in 2006 98.8% of primary school teachers were women (UIS 2010).
The combined gross enrolment in education was in 2006 88.8%: 91.5% for females and 86.3% for males -- or a women to parity of 106% (UNDP 2008). General education comprises “younger”, “middle” and “senior” schools, mostly in the same school building. Since independence, pre-school education has been rather neglected. Remarkably for a country in which many women are working full-time, less than half of all children aged three to fi ve are enrolled (UIS 2010). “Younger school” comprises grades 1 to 4. Concern- ing enrollment in primary education, Ukraine made great strides since independence, but the most recent developments seem disquieting. Because of a substantial increase in girls’ net enrollment rate in primary
education, the total net enrollment rate increased from 84.9% in 1991 (92.0% for boys and 77.1% for girls, resulting in 84% girls to boys parity) to an overall 88% over 2000-2007, divided into 90% for boys and 87% for girls, or 97% girls to boys parity (WHO 2009). More detailed year-to-year fi gures even show that for a moment girls’ enrollment would have surpassed boys’: the net enrollment rate peaked in 2005, with 96.9% (96.1% for boys and 97.7% for girls). This rate decreased with 7%points to 89.9% in 2007, of which 89.9% for boys and 89.8% for girls. However, the 2005 peak may have been merely a statistical fallacy, as other statistics show the proportion of primary school children out of school in the 2000s stabilizing around 10%, reaching nearly 11% in 2008 – 11% for boys and 10% for girls (UNESCO 2005; UIS 2010; UN MDG Indicators).
Students continue in secondary education in the “middle school” from grade 5 to year 9, thus fi ve years, while “senior school” comprises three profi le years. With 99.8% in 2003, the transition rate from primary to secondary education remains quite high, divided in 100% for boys and 99.7% for girls. The gross enrollment rate in secondary school was also slightly higher for boys than for girls: in 2006 94.2% against 92.6%, thus 98% women to men parity (average 93.4%) (UIS 2010). For 2007, even 100% women to men parity was reported (UN MDG Indicators). As noted, average school years are over 1.5 years shorter than the com- pulsory 12 years. Partly this is a consequence of the rather low enrollment in preschool, partly of the large amounts of students leaving secondary school with incomplete education (second level). The share of this group in all those fi nishing general education was in 1990 63%, falling slightly to 60% and in 2000 to 56% (website Statistics Ukraine), but of course the situation in which still only 44% completes secondary educa- tion is far from satisfactory.11 Secondary teaching is for a large part a female job: in 2006 79% of secondary
school teachers were women (UIS 2010).
Higher education in Ukraine is either state-funded or private. It is common practice that university can- didates are not required to pass an entrance examination if they are willing to pay for their education. For most students that study at state expenses, the level of government grants is not suffi cient to cover their basic living expenses. The two degrees conferred by universities are in accordance with the Bologna proc- ess, in which Ukraine is taking part: a Bachelor’s Degree (4 years, leading to ISCED level 5A) and a Master’s Degree (5-6th year, leading to ISCED level 5B) (wikipedia Education in Ukraine; Kremen and Nikolajenko
2006). The available statistics suggest that enrollment in higher education in the 2000s has grown towards a very high level, from 56% of the eligible fi ve-year group after secondary education in 2000 to 76% in
11 Unfortunately, these fi gures are neither divided by gender nor by income of parents. Like the US Dept of State (2010), reports on poverty in Ukraine suggest that –-like in many other countries-- students from poor families have much higher drop-out
2008. The 2008 fi gure for females was even 88%, against 71% for males, implying a women to men parity rate of 124% (UIS 2010). This rate has increased at regular speed from 103% in 1991 and 114% in 2000 (UN MDG Indicators). It should be added that according to various investigations the output standards in Ukrainian higher education are still largely based on the plan economy of the Soviet era. As a result, there is a major qualitative mismatch between qualifi cations offered by the education system and labour demand of employers. As many as one in fi ve Ukrainian fi rms regards the skills of available workers as a major obstacle to their fi rm’s operation and growth. This percentage is higher than in any other transition economy of the CIS and other Eastern European countries. Such skill shortages mostly affl ict modern and expanding fi rms (World Bank 2009d, 2010; Nijssen and Grijpstra 2006).