Parliament allowed university students to choose the pace of their studies

The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted in the second reading on draft law No. 10177 on the development of individual educational trajectories for students of higher education institutions. This document was supported by 306 MPs.

"Our idea is to create more opportunities and give more freedom to students of higher education institutions. For example, to independently regulate the pace and duration of studies, as well as to change the specialty after a year or one and a half of studies, thanks to the introduction of interdisciplinary educational programs at the bachelorʼs level," wrote the Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi in X.

The draft law allows students to choose the duration of their studies. For example, a bachelorʼs degree can be obtained in 3 or 5 years, depending on which workload the student chooses. He will make decisions on his own. A student (not a group) will be able to choose a certain number of subjects personally.

Also, the law allows applicants to enter not a specialty, but a branch. This will give first-year students an understanding of what specialty they want to study in general.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies Mykhailo Fedorov explained this with an example and published in his Telegram an infographic with a detailed and visual explanation of the innovations.

"The student has not yet decided on a specialty, so he enrolls in the interdisciplinary program ʼSocial Sciencesʼ. It includes several specialties: sociology, social work and political science. After a year and a half, the student decides that political science is closer to him, and chooses this specialty, and continues to study it purposefully. Those who have decided on a specialty from the beginning will be able to immediately enroll in it in the future," Fedorov wrote.

This bill envisages not only greater autonomy for students, but also for higher education institutions. In general, he adapts Ukrainian education to European standards, notes Fedorov and adds that students in Europeʼs top institutions study according to this system.