The European Training Foundation's (ETF) Torino Process assessment provides an external, forward-looking analysis of the country's human capital development issues and VET policy responses from a lifelong learning perspective. It is based on evidence provided in Ukraine's national Torino Process report, which was compiled in 2019 using a standardised questionnaire (national reporting framework) and additional information sources where relevant[1] All data sources and references are available in the list of references included in this report.
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Ukraine's economy has stabilised following a deep recession after the Maidan revolution in 2014 and 2015. It has gradually returned to growth in the last three years. Household consumption continues to grow, supported by strong remittances from labour migration to European Union (EU) countries and a resumption of consumer lending. At the same time, manufacturing and investment growth remains weak, which hampers strong and sustained economic growth.
The population of Ukraine shrank from 50 million in 1999 to 42 million in 2019. Like many other European countries, Ukraine faces depopulation. However, Ukraine's population is falling on an unparalleled scale and at an unparalleled rate compared to its neighbours and is expected to decline by more than 15% by 2050. The relative size of the young population (aged 15 to 24) decreased from 16.7% in 2013 to 13.2% in 2018 and its share is the smallest among the Eastern Partnership countries.
Ukraine began to actively reform its education system in 2014 when the new Law on Higher Education was adopted. This was followed by the Law on Education in 2017, which provides the strategic framework for the implementation of reforms. Great attention has been paid to modernising primary and secondary general education in which the concept of the New Ukrainian School guides the reform actions and sets the timetable for them. A new Law on Complete General Secondary Education was adopted in January 2020 which underpins the implementation of the New Ukrainian School. A new VET law has been drafted and awaits submission to the parliament at the time of drafting this assessment. The new Concept for Modern VET adopted in June 2019 includes the main strategic elements of VET reform, which Ukraine plans to implement in the years to come. Moreover, in 2019 the country also adopted a Law on Professional Pre-Higher Education which regulates education and training provision in colleges and technikums, which were previously part of the higher education system.
The EU provides considerable support to Ukraine to ensure a stable, prosperous and democratic future for all its citizens, and has pledged a EUR 12.8 billion package for the next few years to support the reform process. The EU strategy aimed at supporting Ukraine between 2018 and 2020 identifies human capital development as a priority for cooperation under the objective of economic development and market opportunities. Ukraine has embarked on a comprehensive reform of its education sector. The EU is providing support, notably in the area of VET and minority languages.
In spite of the tremendous progress and achievements of renewed legal and strategic frameworks throughout the entire education sector, this report looks at issues that need to be addressed to align the ongoing secondary VET reforms with other sub-systems of the education system to enhance lifelong learning.