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. 
