The Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft law № 6136, which proposed to introduce a new budget program for improving skills of teaching staff in higher education institutions.
To finance this program the authors of this document – MPs from the UKROP party Iryna Konstankevych, Taras Batenko, Oleksandr Dubinin, Vitaliy Kupriy and Viktor Shevchenko – are going to use funds allocated according to the law on “State Budget of Ukraine for 2017” for increased expenses on the Verkhovna Rada legislative activity. It is about 23.7 million hryvnias that, in particular, had to be used for raising salaries of the MPs and parliamentary staff. However, due to public resonance pay rises did not happen, and Parliament has not yet approved the budget of its work.
“So the raised funds for supporting the legislative activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine cannot be used yet,” emphasizes the explanatory note.
The authors of the bill point out that improving skills of teaching staff is an important part of postgraduate education. This improvement, according to the sectoral legislation, should take place at least every 5 years by passing training, internships, providing creative holidays and so on. However, since independence because of lacking funding this work with research and teaching staff of universities has failed or has been reduced to formal training within a single institution. This resulted negatively in the quality of teaching and led to deterioration of relations between universities and research institutions and enterprises, and in weakening collaboration between the departments of educational institutions.
Adoption of the proposed draft law will create favorable conditions for staff training, providing innovative development of the country and improving the quality of the educational process, which in its turn will help to carry out an effective reform of higher education in Ukraine and ensure its entry into the European Higher Education Area, are convinced the representatives of UKROP.
“Introduction of teaching staff training system will contribute to strengthening of higher education institutions, especially in terms of implementing innovative learning technologies, updating educational content and inter-university researches,” states the explanatory note.
