Historical overview
Since Ukraine gained independence in 1991, adult education, as a component of lifelong learning, has neither taken its rightful place nor received the recognition it deserves. The attitude of both the Ukrainian state and its citizens towards non-vocational or informal education can be described more as a personal matter, mostly aligned with the goals of commercial education. Apart from departmental programmes aimed at improving the qualifications of public sector employees and interdepartmental retraining programmes for the unemployed, adult education programmes are primarily self-financed by the participants.
Currently, adult education in Ukraine is predominantly represented by the system of postgraduate education. By supporting both professional and personal growth, postgraduate education is designed to facilitate adaptation to rapid changes in the economy and the information technology society. Each year, over 300,000 specialists pass through this educational system, which is insufficient when considering the need to retrain at least 25% of the adult workforce to effectively implement social transformations. These retraining efforts must fundamentally change both the content and the approach to education.
A significant part of adult education consists of vocational training in the workplace. The stimulation of professional training is regulated by the Law on Taxation of Profits of Enterprises, which allows companies to include up to 3% of their wage fund in training expenses. However, the experience of competitive domestic and many innovative foreign companies shows that expenses for vocational training typically reach at least 5% of the wage fund. In the European Union, vocational training expenses account for approximately 1% of total labour costs.
Over the more than 30 years of Ukraine's independence, the following key characteristics of adult education have emerged:
-
Despite significant legislative and regulatory changes for staff training, education, and learning, adult education still retains remnants of Soviet-era norms, terminology and approaches;
-
The management of adult education is fragmented among various central executive authorities, local self-government bodies, and national and sectoral employers' associations;
-
Adult education primarily focuses on acquiring vocational qualifications, which participants achieve through postgraduate education, retraining, and professional development;
-
The state funds career development programmes for public sector employees and civil servants, while the manufacturing sector predominately covers these costs independently;
-
There is a lack of a flexible system of preferential financing and tax incentives for training costs, which creates significant difficulties for employers, particularly during wartime;
-
Short-term non-vocational programmes, especially for the elderly, people with disabilities, war veterans and their families, account for less than 10% of the total annual volume of adult education;
-
During the wartime period, a trend towards reducing bureaucracy in adult education has emerged, along with an increase in micro-credentials, partial vocational qualifications, and recognition of non-formal and informal learning outcomes.
Current policy priorities
In January 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted in the first reading the Draft Law on Adult Education (проєкт Закону України ‘Про освіту дорослих’), submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This law was developed in accordance with the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part (Articles 433, 435). Given the scale of destruction caused by the war, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons, the Ukrainian labour market is expected to undergo significant changes. Therefore, large-scale adult (re)training programmes will be in high demand. The draft law, divided into 11 Chapters with 43 Articles, contains the following provisions:
-
It defines the legal, organisational and economic framework for the functioning and development of the adult education system in Ukraine. It also outlines the conditions for effective cooperation among stakeholders to realise the right of adults to lifelong learning.
-
It identifies key tasks, including:
-
Creating conditions for the development of adult education based on a comprehensive understanding of its social value and significance;
-
Defining priority areas of adult education that will ensure the development of key competences in adults;
-
Structuring the adult education system;
-
Defining principles of cooperation between the state, local authorities and adult education providers;
-
Establishing the legal framework for the operation of new institutions in the field of adult education.
-
A provision is made for non-formal education to be recognised within the formal education system.
-
The draft law introduces many new terms, norms and provisions that were not previously described in national legislation. These include:
-
Defining the legal, organisational and economic bases for the functioning and development of the adult education system;
-
Creating conditions for effective cooperation among all participants in the educational process;
-
Ensuring the right of individuals to continuous learning, considering social development priorities and economic demands;
-
Establishing adult education as a distinct component of the education system;
-
Laying the institutional foundations for cooperation between the state, local authorities and adult education providers;
-
Forming elements of self-regulation within this area of education.
-
The components of adult education have been revised. These now include postgraduate education, vocational training, retraining and/or professional development courses, and continuous professional development. The draft law defines the following categories of adult education:
-
Additional, personally oriented education and training;
-
Civic education;
-
Continuous professional development, including postgraduate education;
-
Compensatory education;
-
Formative education refers to the attainment of vocational, pre-higher or short-cycle higher education, or the first or second levels of higher education. This applies to individuals who have had a gap of at least five years after completing their previous level of formal education, or those obtaining such education in a different profession, speciality or field of knowledge.
-
The introduction of a Register of Personal Electronic Portfolios is proposed, particularly for professionals in regulated fields. For example, doctors and teachers must regularly undergo professional development, independently select relevant courses or programmes, and earn credits for their completion. Individuals will voluntarily enroll in this register, which will store data on their lifelong education.
-
The draft law also lays out approaches to state funding for adult education, including for adults with special educational needs. It proposes principles for preferential lending and tax benefits for financing adult education from other sources.