JOHN MARONE, KYIV
THE CORRUPTION TEST
Corruption in Ukraine is ubiquitous. The country's politicians and other so-called elite publicly bemoan its prevalence while privately taking part in the spoils. The average person alternately finds it funny, painful or the easiest way to get something done. And when an organization such as Transparency International publishes its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, in which Ukraine is listed as more corrupt than many third-world countries, no one is surprised.
In order to do something about public corruption, the Ukrainian authorities agreed to take part in a two-year plan funded by the US Agency for International Development that includes, among other projects, the introduction of a standardized national admission test for applicants to institutes of higher education. The rationale is simple: not only are Ukraine's colleges and universities as corrupt as most other institutions, they serve as a breeding ground for successive generations of bribe takers, cheats and nepotists; so, why not teach Ukrainian youth right from the start the value of earning rather than buying one's success?
On April 22, the first national test (in Ukrainian literature) was administered to more than half a million high-school graduates. And despite widespread, largely unfounded criticism delivered in a politically charged context, things went well. Thousands of test monitors fielded by independent NGOs reported only minor glitches and violations. The turnout rate of those who registered was over 90 percent. A poll taken in the run up to the testing date showed that most kids had been well informed about the test from their teachers or the media. One third had taken part in pilot testing.
However, you wouldn't have guessed that the tests had been well organized on the basis of the political ballyhoo that was provoked.
The opposition Party of Regions, whose base of support is in the country's Russian-speaking south and east, claimed that organization of the testing was faulty and hastily conceived.
"The Party of the Regions demands that the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers and Ministry of Education and Science immediately put an end to this scandal known as mandatory testing in the interest of protecting the rights of Ukrainian citizens and upholding Ukrainian law," reads a statement released on April 21.
In the cutthroat world of Ukrainian politics, it isn't unusual that the opposition would jump at any chance to attack the policy of the party in power. However, one might have expected the Cabinet to defend the testing more vigorously.
Instead, apparently afraid of losing its greatest political asset - public support - the government of populist Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko caved in.
Tymoshenko's right-hand man, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov announced on testing day that the introduction of mandatory national exams should be gradual.
"I personally believe that if it [the testing] hasn't been prepared, we shouldn't be conducting large-scale experiments ... We shouldn't expedite what doesn't need to be expedited," he told journalists.
Ms. Tymoshenko herself promised Ukrainians that the government would carefully monitor successive tests, which continue until June 4.
Nevertheless, she also confirmed the worst suspicions disseminated to the public by opponents of the test.
"God forbid that we should turn the battle against corruption into a battle against our own children," she said on April 23.
Oddly, in defending its own policy, the government failed to bring up the most important arguments.
First, contrary to accusations by the Party of Regions, whose leader Viktor Yanukovych was roundly accused of fraud during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004, the introduction of standardized tests has not been rushed.
Pilot standardized tests began in Ukraine as early as 2004, with 40 kids taking part. Last year, around 117,000 college applicants sat for national exams.
According to the newly created Ukrainian Center for Education Quality Assessment, which is responsible for developing and implementing the Ukrainian government's testing initiative, no one questioned the fairness of the pilot tests.
Last July, a campaign began to inform high school kids that starting in 2008 their standardized test scores would be the sole determinate of whether they got accepted into an institute of higher education.
To postpone the introduction of national testing at this stage in the game is not justified and would amount to nothing more than a prolongation of the problems endemic at Ukrainian universities and colleges.
In a recent poll, 65 percent of Ukrainian students said corruption was widespread in higher education, with 8 percent reporting that they had personally been asked for bribes in return for good grades or admission.
Until this year, each institute or university decided its own admission policy.
In addition to fighting corruption and promoting meritocracy, standardized national tests offer educators the opportunity to monitor and compare the results of different curricula.
Proponents of national testing acknowledge that more funding will be necessary as well as legislative changes, for example, establishing punishment for cheaters; however, they point out that the real reason for resistance to the testing is bipartisan politics feeding on public uncertainty.
The Ukrainian Center for Education Quality Assessment is currently subordinate to the Education and Science Ministry, but plans envision it eventually becoming an independent institution.
In the mean time, the only Ukrainian politician who appears to understand the long-term significance of continuing the tests is President Viktor Yushchenko.
"Testing is the solution to the problem of replacing [academic] competition based on wallet size with competition based on knowledge. It is a question of fundamental social justice," he told a briefing on April 22.
Last year, when resistance to national testing was just emerging, Yushchenko threatened to cut off budget funding to any institutes that maintained their own admission policy.
And now that it has begun, educators themselves must embrace it in order for it to succeed.
"Of course, there are still a lot of problems. Ukraine is still on the path to creating its own national system of independent testing. The first step is always difficult - precisely because Ukrainian politicians, teachers and the academic community must walk that path together, joining forces in order to resolve the problems that lie ahead rather than hiding from them," reads a statement released by the president of arguably one of Ukraine's most prestigious institutes of higher education, Kyiv-Mogilyanskaya Academy, Serhiy Kvit.
In the final analysis, what's really being tested is the resolve of Ukrainian politician to do something about corruption.
John Marone, a columnist of Eurasian Home website, Kyiv, Ukraine
April 25, 2008
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