President of the SEEU Board visited Kyiv

The President of the University Board, Prof. Dr. Dennis Farrington, visited Kyiv, Ukraine from 19-21 May in the capacity of expert of the Council of Europe. He met the Minister and First Vice-Minister of Education, professors, officials and Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) to discuss the new draft of the Law on Higher Education following the change of government. Dr Farrington has been involved in Ukranian education legislation since 1996 and has prepared three reports on higher education during 2011 to 2013. The main areas for discussion in the new draft Law were quality assurance and university financing. 'Although Ukraine is a much larger country than the Republics of Macedonia and Kosovo, there are the same threats to the universities of increased high quality international competition; only by local universities continuously striving to be excellent in teaching and administration, like SEEU, can we offer students the best start in their professional lives' said Dr Farrington. The work in Ukraine will continue with the development of a Framework Law on Education later in the year. Among other key areas for development are defining the rights of national minorities, language policy, the training and development of teachers, and a National Qualifications Framework. Agencies involved in this include the EU and the Council of Europe.

Dr Farrington also visited an English language school where he discussed reforms with staff and students.