Quality assurance of higher education in the process of interaction between Ukrainian NGOS and national Higher Education: a theoretical analysis

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Institute of higher education, NAES of Ukraine

Quality assurance of higher education in the process of interaction between Ukrainian NGOS and national HE: a theoretical analysis

K. Tryma, Ph.D. (Political Sciences),

Annotation

The general approaches to the impact made by the non-governmental organizations upon the education and higher education in Ukraine are highlighted in the present paper.

The legislative basis for the participation of public organizations in the management of the educational sector in Ukraine was formed gradually, with the adoption of relevant legislative acts. The principal ones are: the Law of Ukraine “On Education " (2017), the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Educatio" (2019) and the Law of Ukraine “On public associations" (2018).

Various types of non-governmental organizations that are stakeholders of the educational process in Ukraine are specified, a short description of the proposed types of non-governmental organizations is provided: parents' associations; public associations of teachers; public associations of the heads of educational institutions; student associations and public associations of experts in education. The activities carried out by expert organizations in the sphere of quality assurance are described as well as their potential for assessing the higher education institutions with the purpose to improving the quality of education.

Keywords: non-governmental association; public organizations and associations; an education; communication; quality of higher education; quality assurance of higher education.

Аннотація

Забезпечення якості вищої освіти в процесі взаємодії українських громадських організацій та національних ЗВО: теоретичний аналіз

К. Трима, к. політ. н., п.н.с. відділу політики та врядування у вищій освіті Інституту вищої освіти НАПН

Ключові слова: громадське об'єднання; освіта; комунікація; якість вищої освіти; забезпечення якості вищої освіти.

Formulation of the problem

Modern society is rapidly transforming under the influence of globalization processes in the different branches of human activities. The transformation of the state and its functions under the influence of globalization is also taking place as a new paradigm of the development of the modern society. The key point is that the various elements of civil society take part in public administration, serving as a public controller. Such element of the civil society as civil organizations use the opportunity to influence upon all traditional institutions of the state. The education sector, especially higher education, is also influenced by globalization and regionalization processes. The sphere of higher education is a strategic for the future development of the whole society because higher education is of a particular importance, because it is a social and humanitarian institute through which knowledge, norms, modes of activity, behaviours and cultural values are transferred to another generations.

Analysis of research and publications

Ukrainian and foreign academicians study the theoretical and methodological foundations and practical cases of the influence of the civil organizations and associations on the functioning of higher education in the world and in Ukraine. Functioning and quality standards of the higher education system are being studied by such authoritative researchers sch as V. Andrushchenko, S. Kalashnikova, V. Kremen', V. Lughovyi Yu. Radkevich, O. Slyusarenko, Zh. Talanova, O. Vashulenko and others. The peculiarities of the non-profit organizations are investigated V. Gura, G. Zelenko, A. Kolodiy, I. Kresina, M. Mikhalchenko, F. Rudych, G. Shchedrova, and others.

The term “non-governmental organization” means an organization that is not owned, directed by or affiliated to any governmental organization, and operates on a not-for-profit basis. G. Willetts states that the NGO in the sphere of higher education is basically connected with the education system: “The most common distinction is between operational and campaigning NGOs. This may be interpreted as the choice between small-scale change achieved directly through projects and large-scale change promoted indirectly through influence on the political syste” [14, 28].

The cooperation between HEIs and civil society is investigated in the cycle of academic works by Ivar Bleiklie, who in his work “The University, the State, and Civil Society” highlights the tendency on democratization through the increasing of the number of non-state actors in the public management of higher education and quality assurance [12].

Peter Willetts describes the role of non-profit organizations in the sphere of higher education in his work “Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics: To Construction of Global Governance” [13] and states in another “NGOs as Insider Participants: Evolution of the role of NGOs at the United Nations” [14] that “the role of NGOs as crucial pioneers in the democratization of the education as well in the field of its quality assurance” [14, 128].

According to S. Kalashnikova, modern universities operate in open and partner environment on the basis of a new model of higher education governance, which “includes - many levels and many actors (participants); rules, procedures and mechanisms for their interaction to achieve common goals”. It “causes a change in the role of the state in the management of higher education (from regulator to facilitator) and the delegation/redistribution of its powers among new actors (participants) in the governance process” [8, 76].

V. Lughovyi and Zh. Talanova analyse the activities of the following non-governmental organizations: the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (EQAA) and the International Network for Quality Assurance

Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) [2, 12]. The scientists propose to use concepts developed by these organizations to form a terminological minimum: “NQAAHE, first, recognizes the theoretically and practically complex category of “quality in higher education”, seeks to theoretically and practically substantiate the “quality improvement” [1, 18] and “the system of quality assurance”, facilitate the definition of appropriate “Standards of institutions” [9, 24].

Goal of the article

Based on the analysis of the academic papers and other available sources, it makes it possible to describe the interactions between the elements of higher education of Ukraine and civil society. Therefore, the task of this paper is the analysis of the cooperation between national NGOs and higher education institutions and to make an attempt to develop a classification of NGOs that interact with HEIs to develop the terminology apparatus for the investigations in this sphere.

The main part of the research

Civil society organizations are a central element of Ukrainian civil society, identifying the type of Ukrainian civil society as a continental European type. According to Professor M.I. Mikhalchenko, “the type of the civil society influences the forms and content of its interaction with the state: in countries with greater experience of democracy, the content of interaction of the public with the state is determined by the dominance of large influential organizations in the socio-political sphere. These organizations, having broad powers, create the conditions for an equal dialogue with the state and are an effective tool for deterring the state in an unstable situation” [7, 20]. Thus, it can be emphasized that the basic element and domestic public structures are various organizations, associations and various movements.

Since 1991, there has been a significant increase in the number of registrations of various public associations, organizations, foundations and other voluntary organizations created on the initiative of the citizens. Professor B.L. Kukhta points out that such social formations are the essence of the civil society, “which consists in the functioning of nonstate public institutions and relations, which are predominantly non-political in nature, in which associative life, mass movements, various interest groups develop freely... and other features” [6, 109 - 110].

The organizational and legal conditions of the activities carried out by the Ukrainian nongovernmental organizations are enshrined in numerous legislative acts regulating this social dimension. The legislative act are the following: the Constitution of Ukraine; the Civil Code of Ukraine; the proper Laws of Ukraine and other acts of legislation.

The right to create and operate an organization is ensured by the Articles 15, 16, 34, 36, 37 and 39 of the Constitution of Ukraine. As a matter of principle, Article 37 of the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees the right to create associations freely, that is, the right to create non-governmental organizations engaged in various fields voluntarily. public organization quality higher education

As stated in the Law of Ukraine “On Public Associations”, non-governmental organizations, charitable foundations, international associations and national unions, cultural and sports associations and other private initiatives are created to satisfy and protect the legal common interests of their members only [4]. The purpose to establish an organization can include: the defence of rights and freedoms; the satisfaction and protection of legitimate social, economic, creative, age, national-cultural, sports and other common interests; improvement of legislation. Also - ensuring for the interests of the proper social groups to be taken into account by state authorities and local self-government bodies through their activities, and influence on the formulation and implementation of the state policy.

The increase in the number and organizational forms of NGOs required the proper legal regulation of their activities. This led to the emergence of numerous, but disparate, documents. Scientists and public figures consider the legal system of associations to be extremely unsatisfactory; resulting in the legal field of activity of various organizations does not represent a holistic system.

According to the Law of Ukraine “On Public Associations”, the term “civil organization” can be understood as “the voluntary association of individuals and/or legal entities under private law for the exercise and protection of rights and freedoms, the satisfaction of public, including economic, social, cultural, environmental, and other interests” [4]. This interpretation of the term is consistent with the definition given in “Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the economic and social committee participation of non-state actors in EC development policy” [11]. According to this document, the main characteristics of NGOs are following:

- non-state actor;

- independent of the state;

- profit or non-profit-making organizations;

- created voluntarily by citizens;

- their aim: to promote an issue or an interest, either general or specific [11].

Within other spheres, the civil organizations are one of the stakeholders of the modern Ukrainian education system. NGOs perform their activities in accordance with the standard requirements for the work of the public associations. The legislative basis for the participation of public organizations in the management of the educational sector in Ukraine was formed gradually, with the adoption of relevant legislative acts.

So, cooperation between NGOS and HEIs is based on the abovementioned legislative acts and, of course, on the modern Law of Ukraine “On Education” (2017) and the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education” (2019) [5]. These documents declare the basics of the transition from the traditional to the public-public management system by dividing the functions between central, regional and local governing bodies and intensifying the participation of various stakeholders in education and organization of education on different levels.

The State Statistics Committee in its annual report 2017 provides information that 50,000 NGOs operate in Ukraine [3]. The most common varieties are: sports organizations; professional associations; youth organizations; veterans and disabled people unions; cultural and educational organizations; organizations established on ethnic basis (5%); human rights organizations etc. [3].

Non-governmental organizations involved in education have clearly defined priorities for their activities. There are many public entities operating with the purpose to protect the rights of the students, educators and scholars. According to the content analysis of the statutes of influential public organizations that are members of the Public Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, their main tasks are defining the protection of the rights of their members, including education. In addition, they are engaged in other activities - educational, scientific, analytical, controlling, thereby increasing the efficiency of the functioning of education in general. Examples of such public associations include the following: “All-Ukrainian Association of Young Scientists”; “Association of Heads of Student Self-Government Bodies of Kyiv”; “Research Institute of Economic Development”; Student Coordinating Council; “All-Ukrainian Union of Young Scientists and Students”; Association of Scientists, Innovators and Entrepreneurs - Youth Business Format and more.

A relatively new trend is the intensification of the transition from formalism to active participation and influence by public authorities on education. At present, the system of public education management includes participants of the educational process, their governing bodies and public administration of education; the legal framework regulating the activity of subjects of public administration of education; procedures and mechanisms for their interaction.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine coordinates the activities of the Public Council, which is an advisory body for the implementation of state policy in the field of education and science and for solving urgent socio-economic problems. Nevertheless, despite the cooperation through this official body, it should be noted that in Ukraine, nowadays, cooperation between state institutions and civil society organizations in the education system is conducted on the basis of parallel coexistence rather than mutual assistance.

Public bodies working together with public authorities often deal with important but not fundamental issues such as: parental control of the issue of subsidies for school needs; additional funding for schools; involvement of the individuals and organizations in improving educational conditions, strengthening the learning and upbringing base; student self-government is not enshrined in legislative acts; - student self-government, although represented in the academic councils, is actually relevant to solving only minor issues and student are not very active and they don't have an impact on the main activities of higher education; general meetings of the staff of educational institutions do not solve perspective development issues. As one can see, the sphere of higher education quality assurance is not included to that list because it is difficult to name such a civil organization engaged in this sphere on the level of public control.

An overview of the NGOs operating in the field of education provides an opportunity to classify them according to their goal. The classification includes the following groups:

1) parents' community associations;

2) public associations of teachers;

3) public associations of heads of educational institutions, which are created to promote the professional development of heads of educational institutions and influence on educational policy;

4) student associations;

5) public associations of experts in education which contribute to the development of science and education.

In our opinion, such expert organizations form the basis for a true accountability of the academic system within the national quality assurance system using the principle of institutional autonomy. It is possible to ensure, among other things, by engaging representatives of the civil sector in the assessment of the HEA activity. That is, in addition to the state assessment of the HEIs activity, an alternative procedure, a self-assessment process, or a professional (profile association) or public evaluation (public organizations that offer expert evaluation services), is being formed. Moreover, the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) recommend cooperation with various stakeholders in the quality assurance process to guarantee organizational autonomy of the HEIs [10, 28].

Conclusions

The development of the civil society, the formation of democratic governance, and the emergence of public policy have given impetus to the change in relations between the state, the society and the HEIs that now envisage:

- establishment of bilateral cooperation between public authorities, citizens and public associations;

- establishment of effective communication between two civil society actors: the HEIs and the NGOs.

The activities of the NGOs, especially those working in the field of implementing educational standards, transform the activities of educational institutions, which has a cumulative effect and leads to an improvement of the quality of educational services. The experience of other countries in this field shows that the use of NGOs for the external diagnostics of the activity of the higher education system is an effective public tool.

Another important observation in evaluating the effectiveness of NGOs in higher education is the lack of online educational communities that, thanks to modern IT technologies are created, but do not have a systematic impact on educational policy-making. Individual educational communities create interest- based associations across social networks and offline networks based on horizontal connections. Nevertheless, the state education management system does not use these opportunities as a resource to improve the whole effectiveness of the internal communication system.

Література

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