Throughout his political career as opposition party leader and presidential candidate, and now during the parliamentary elections, President Viktor Yushchenko has campaigned as a man who is looking out for the interests of “little Ukrainians” and true Ukrainian patriots.
He rallied against the privileges enjoyed by the political and business elite during the reign of his predecessor Leonid Kuchma and called upon a great pride in Ukrainian history and culture.
This makes his decision to send his children to Pechersk School International seem very odd indeed.
Not that there is anything wrong with PSI. Since its founding in 1995, it has provided an excellent education to hundreds of children of diplomats and other foreigners who have been in Ukraine for short periods of time. It provides an excellent alternative to the difficulties of the Ukrainian school system.
But PSI is truly expensive. Tuition costs more than $12,000 per year.
Second, a quick look at PSI’s website reveals that education is provided in the English language and it offers an International Baccalaureate degree. The International Baccalaureate degree is a globally recognized degree for high schools that is accepted at universities around the world in over 100 countries, though by none in Ukraine.
As president of Ukraine, the country’s educational system is under the direct purview of Yushchenko. In his three years as head of state, we have heard barely a peep about the problems of the education system or his plans to reform it.
The problems of the system are well-known in Ukraine and obvious to any employer. These problems include poor teacher salaries, endemic corruption, and most notably, abysmal foreign-language teaching. In the purely human sense, it is understandable why the Yushchenkos would like to have their children avoid the Ukrainian school system entirely.
It is a shame that instead of leading by example, the president and his family have opted for the easy way out. Meanwhile, the country’s educational system is arguably an issue of national security.
The glaring inequality can only be rectified with a concerted campaign that will do more than promise higher wages for teachers and stipends for students. The goal should be to raise the quality of education in all of the nation’s schools to the same level enjoyed by teachers and students at schools like PSI.
