Ukrainian scientists and supporters of science took part in the March for Science global initiative on April 14. They walked through the center of Kyiv to draw attention to educational shortcomings.
The first March for Science was held in Washington, D.C. a year ago, in protest at cuts to science funding envisaged in the budget drawn up by the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. Outraged, the scientists wanted to make it clear that the U.S. government was endangering scientific research and development.
However, scientists around the world are also facing cuts, and this year they held March for Science events in several countries, both to demonstrate solidarity with their U.S. colleagues, and to draw attention to their own problems.
One of the Kyiv march attendees, Iryna Yehorchenko, a mathematician and promoter of science, said she had come to the march because she is concerned about several problems, including the education system, the brain drain, and science funding.
She said that often students come to university without the proper motives — they just want to get a degree. The problem was exacerbated after university education was reformed in Ukraine, and students were allocated more hours for independent work, and fewer hours of classwork.
“Most of the students don’t study independently,” Yehorchenko said. “They go to work, or do something else.
More flexibility
Mykyta Balesny, a cybersecurity student, agrees that current education system in Ukraine is flawed. He says the Ministry of Education and Sciences can’t keep up with developments in certain specialties.
“In the cybersecurity field, everything changes every month or two; the older knowledge just doesn’t make sense anymore,” Balesny said.
He thinks that teachers should have more flexibility in arranging tuition programs.
“Some of our professors give us extra knowledge that is not required by the ministry. And the students appreciate it a lot, because it’s something we can use right now.”
Balesny also complained about the illusion of choice given at his university: “Last week students had to choose one subject out of four to study during the next semester. However, they said that the whole group had to choose the same subject. So even though some students would like to choose different subjects, they have to conform to the majority decision.”
Science career
According to the World Economic Forum Competitiveness Report 2017–18, Ukraine is 35th out of 138 countries in terms of the quantity and quality of its higher education and training opportunities. However, the country has problems convincing students to go on to pursue a career in science.
Yehorchenko said not many students today are interested in a scientific career, as “they see no prospects in Ukraine.” Some of those that take postgraduate courses are not doing it for scientific reasons, she said: “They use it as a sort of stopgap as they look for jobs or to get more or less cheap accommodation in Kyiv.”
Promoting science
Others at the march weren’t just concerned about the current state of science in Ukraine, but also its future.
Iryna Tubaltseva was there with her eight-year-old daughter to support the scientific movement in Ukraine. She said it was crucial to get children interested in science and to develop critical thinking skills.
“Fortunately, in Kyiv there are a lot of opportunities for children who are interested in science,” Dubaltseva said. “And there are a lot of interested parents as well, so different scientific clubs and events for children are developing.”
March attendee Natalia Atamas, a zoologist and a promoter of Ukrainian science, said the country’s scientists also had to make the public aware of the problems they are facing, and to know that scientists indeed produce something of value.
“Scientists used to be silent, but when people start saying that there is no science in Ukraine, we have to say: ‘Here we are, look at us,’” she said.
