distance education from Ukraine

The era of distance education in Ukraine commenced from the 1980s with the advent of International Research and Training Center of Information Technologies and Systems (IRTC) taking in projects from UNESCO on distance education. But the official legislation to pursue distance learning was signed into effect in July 2000. Since then, the country has the Ukrainian Distance Education Center at the National Technical University in Kyiv. It was developed with the objective to create a viable system of post-secondary distance educational options throughout the country in accordance with the mandate of the National Program of Information. All the available courses under distance and online learning are recognized not only by the Ministry of Higher Education of Ukraine but also globally recognized by the WHO, UNESCO, and the European Council. The distance learning schools offering online courses in Ukraine have English as the medium of instruction, making it convenient for a wider number of foreign students.

The discernible advantage of studying through a distance education at home or at your workplace is of saving time and money involved in physically attending a university education. Further reduction in costs happens through the availability of the entire methodical equipments on an electronic bearer which expels the need to buy the text books. Also, the educational fee is 10 % less than at the corresponding faculty of the traditional mode of study at the University.

The educational activity of a student pursuing an online degree through a distance learning mode from a Ukrainian university is organized by having an access to educational-methodical materials on the server of the University. These are lecture materials with references to Internet resources, training tests, assignments for written works and thematic chats.

In Ukraine, an academic year is calculated from September to May; and a student pursuing distant education is required to come to the University  only once a year in May-June for a session control. According to the place of his residence, a student can also get to work at an educational-consulting centre of the University. On the basis of the University or its structural subdivision in regional centers, a credit-examinational session for the distance studying students is carried out through the personal meeting of an examiner and a student.

From an historical perspective, Ukraine has always been well known throughout the world for its fine system of universities. As of March 2010 there were 881 universities, colleges and technical schools in Ukraine. The National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy feature in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities at 1,346 and 2,055 respectively out of 8,000. Notably, both these universities are continuously involved in adapting to the innovative technologies in distant education. 

Today comparing Ukraine to the United Kingdom, which is one of the most popular destinations of education worldwide, the facts are exemplary. The former spends more on education as a percentage of its entire GDP as well as the total government expenditure. Considering such facts, an option of studying in Ukraine is worth to be considered.