Displaced higher education institutions: new challenges and prospects

Abstract

The aim of the article is to elaborate directions for the development of displaced higher education institutions (HEIs) based on the study of the impact of hostilities. The study analyses the main consequences of hostilities for higher education in Ukraine. The study reveals: large-scale displacement of higher education institutions as a result of hostilities; significant destruction and damage to the material and technical base of higher education institutions; reduction of the staff of teachers and employees of higher education institutions and the contingent of applicants/students; deterioration of the psycho-emotional state of participants in the educational process. During the period (2014-2022), there were some negative changes in a number of displaced HEIs, which were not always able to restore their human resources, production facilities and libraries. The number of teachers, applicants and students in these higher education institutions has sharply decreased. Many of the displaced universities have significantly deteriorated their positions in Ukrainian university rankings. The war has complicated access to education, deepened educational inequality, and negatively affected the quality of the educational process and students' academic performance compared to existing standards. A comparison of the displacement of Ukrainian higher education institutions as a result of hostilities in 2014-2015 and in 2022 revealed a difference in the scale of displacement, the directions of national and international assistance to higher education institutions, and the model of displacement. It is established that in the process of relocation of higher education institutions, a special role was played by changes in the regulatory mechanism of higher education management through the adoption of new and improvement of existing regulations. The author describes the regulatory documents adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in connection with the introduction of martial law: those aimed at minimising losses from Russian aggression; those on relocation of higher education institutions and their separate structural subdivisions; and orders amending existing documents. For further development, the displaced higher education institutions should choose development directions. The choice of direction and strategy should take into account the type of resources used (budgetary resources; international technical assistance, a combination of budgetary and international resources); existing opportunities and threats. It is proposed to implement: the choice of the direction of further development of displaced HEIs depending on the type of resources used; digitalization of management and educational processes. Changes in the state of higher education necessitate the development of strategies for the further functioning of displaced higher education institutions, as well as the adjustment of the existing Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in Ukraine for 2022-2032.