Time has come to propel Ukraine to the European Union
Photo credit and read in Ukrainian: Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine article.
On March 2, Kyiv Mohyla Academy hosted key members of Ukraine’s Parliament for the presentation of the “Draft Law on Academic Integrity”. Dr. Serhiy Kvit, president of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and former minister of education and science hosted and moderated the event. Attending the presentation were Dr. Ruslan Stepanchuk, head of Ukraine’s Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), various deputies of Parliament, academics, experts, and students. Ivan Nazarov and Andriy Butenko of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, and Dr. Natalya Kuznetsova, vice-president of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine endorsed the draft law and emphasized its importance.
“We understand the level of corruption that has been reached. Today, there are those who came to power and positions that use the title of “doctor” to enhance their status and use it as a standard requirement to attain positions”, said Mr. Stefanchuk as he described the problem. He emphasized that such deceptions with the use of academic degrees are the first step to lowering the academic, intellectual, and moral standards of the nation.
The draft law aims to insure that every representative of Ukraine’s academic community is respected at the level of top intellectuals in the world. Dr. Stefanchuk added that it is the intellectuals, not the ones who hide behind fake diplomas, who must maintain the “academic front” in the battle for reforms, transparency, and integrity. Dr. Stefanchuk emphasized, “The time has come to bring order in the educational sphere. It is an issue of academic transparency and a question of Ukraine’s future”.
Yulia Hryshyna, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science, emphasized that academic integrity is a basic mandatory element of every democratic country: “We need a system that supports and guarantees integrity, with rules that include identification, guarantees, and responsibility”.
