Administrative and legal ensuring of higher education establishment in Ukraine in the 20–ies of XX century

Lesea Myskiv, Candidate of Law Science, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law and Comparative Jurisprudence, Kyiv International University

Административно–правовое обеспечение высшего образования Украины в 20–е гг. XX века В исследовании анализируется становление и развитие высшего образования Украины в период 1919—1930 гг. Характеризуются положения ряда законодательных актов, которые стали нормативной основой административного обеспечения реализации высшего образования Украины в 20–х гг. XX века. Ключевые слова: высшее образование Украины, история высшего образования, нормативное обеспечение, законодательство об образовании УССР.

The formation and development of the higher education in Ukraine in 1919—1930–s are examined in the study. Provisions of some legislative acts that become the foundation of the administrative ensuring of the higher education in Ukraine in 20 years of XX c. are characterized. Keywords: higher education of Ukraine, history of the higher education, normative ensuring, legislation on education of the USSR.

Stating of the problem. Global trends of higher education development show new approaches to reform the educational sector of each country. Lack of the approaching of teaching experience to reality in practical knowledge application remains still major challenge. According to surveys the percentage of jobs in the EU, which require higher education, in comparison with 2010 will have increased from 29% to 34% in 2020. In this context, a renewal of the education management system of each state here is discussed. Ukraine іs no exception, here is clearly traced tendency of formation of good state governance as defining conditions for the exit from the crisis. Investigating the status and prospects of administrative ensuring of the higher education in Ukraine, the analysis of the higher education genesis in the territory of modern Ukraine and management processes, that accompanied it, is considered useful.

Status of research. The issue of formation and development of higher education in Ukraine stay for a long time the subject of scientists analysis, in particular Babishyn S., Yu. Alekseev, L. Bayika, V. Brytan, I. Kurlyak, S. Majboroda, B. Mityurov, A. Velichko, Myropolskyy S., M. Maksimovich, A. Aleksyuk, S. Siropolko, M. Koshuba, P. Krasnyaschyh, S. Rozhdyestvenskyy and others. However, majority of researchers illuminate the processes of the higher education forming in historical and pedagogical context. At the same time, the administrative aspect of the higher education was also discovered by researchers. So, its general and specific issues, including historical and legal context, highlight A. Bandurko, Bakumenko V., V. Zhuravskiy, S. Nikolaenko, L. Gajevska, D. Dzvinchuk, M. Kurko, G. Yelnikova, L. Holoviy, S. Krysyuk, N. Nyzhnyk, R. Shapoval, O. Yarmysh etc. However, the importance of the historical and legal analysis of the formation and development of higher education has its urgency today, especially in the context of the definition of administrative and legal management methods, which are inherent in Ukrainian educational model, which was formed under the influence of various political and legal institutions.

The main material. Intensive contradiction of the revolutionary and counterrevolutionary circles in 1917—1919 years was quite difficult for the Soviet regime, its administrative and commercial, cultural and educational policy. At that time there were not adopted any significant regulations that would define the administrative and legal mechanism of higher education management. The Soviet leadership adopted only some documents that were related to the general school. In particular, they fixed the need to continue education in school to end the program, despite of difficult socio–political situation in the country. The fundamental step in the process of legal ensuring of higher education establishment in Ukraine (in the period) was the adoption in March 10, 1919 of the Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which among other, declared that the USSR was aimed to satisfy workers and peasants complete, comprehensive and free education1.

Reform of Higher Education was started in February 1919. First of all the tuition fees and the publication of the Decree “On joining the high school” were abolished2. The entrants had not any legal “obstacles“. Thus, entering the school the entrant showed only one obligatory document — it was the certificate that identifies person and its age. The certificates of high school or any other information about the educational level of applicants were excluded from the list of mandatory.

Resolution “On the organization of the higher school institutions management” (March 11, 1919) defined the school management system and its main elements. Thus, the Scientific Council organized scientific–research work, the Learning — supervised the learning process, the Educational — spread knowledge among people. The Economic Committee carried out the university business activity management. The Commissioner headed the university.

Quite controversial was the decree “On some changes in composition of construction of the state institutions and higher educational institutions of the USSR” (May 18, 1919), which abolished all academic degrees and titles and related rights and benefits. Instead, the mechanism of departments’ replacement after the competition, in which every citizen of the republic had the right to participate, was introduced.

Regulation “On the People’s Commissariat of Education” (June 6, 1919) defined organizational structure of the bodies of the state management over the educational and training in Ukraine. Thus, the People’s Commissariat of Education, as the central authority controls the activities of departments of education, monitors and inspects all cultural and educational institutions. Commissariat was managed by the board of national commissioner, his deputy and representatives of the People’s Commissariat of Education. People’s Commissariat of Education consisted of eight departments: social education, school, after–school, higher education, arts and organizational, structural, general and supply department. Each department was headed by the Manager.

As regulation “On the People’s Commissariat of Education of the USSR” did not solve the issue of higher education management at the local level, in May 27, 1920 USSR People’s Commissariat of Education adopted the temporary instruction “On the university administration at the local level“. According to the regulation, all the high schools were subordinated to the management of higher education. The head of this department was a member of the Board of Provincial department of the people’s education. In addition, the head subordinated his management and control of life in high school both academic and scientific. Next subdivisions were established: scientific–academic, administrative–academic, financial–economic, students’ social welfare.

Instruction was as a temporary Charter for universities. It identified areas of educational restructuring and reorganization of the university, particularly revising of curricula and programs, combining of the theoretical study of material with long practice were foreseen.

 In March 1920 was approved the “Scheme of the peoples Education in the USSR“. Thus, the education system of the Soviet Ukraine consisted of pre–school institutions, schools, schools of lower, middle and higher vocational education, and other cultural and educational institutions for adults.

In February 11, 1921, the new edition of the regulation “On the People’s Commissariat of Education of the USSR” was adopted, that reorganized the system of educational sphere management. Thus, numerous divisions and subdivisions were liquidated and a new management system consisted of: 1) Main administration of social training and political education of children up to 15 years; 2) Main administration of vocational schools and universities; 3) Main administration of political and educational work among adults; 4) Main administration of the state publisher.

The reform substantially simplified the mechanism of education management, which was quite huge, including in the structure of the USSR. Education management of the USSR, were carried out by the Main Committee of Vocational and specific–science education of the USSR.

In June 1921 was reorganized old high school into institutions for production and functional traits. Universities were completely disbanded and the Institutes of Peoples Education (ISE) were created at their base. The ISE were headed by the Councils, which were formed from the responsible staff, representatives of the provincial department of people’s education and students. The Council solved educational, administrative and economic issues. In order to solve current issues in the Council was created the Board, which included the Chairman and the Secretary and heads of the subdivisions of the institute. Curricula, teaching methods, the number of teachers and students, various provisions and regulations that regulated the internal life of the Institute, were approved by the specifically created for the USSR People’s Commissariat of Education — the Main Committee of Vocational and special–science education.

From the above–mentioned it is clear that the principle of the universities collective management functioned. However, at the beginning of the reform of the education system, including the higher education, the Soviets powers reached a conclusion about the low efficiency of the collective management. Consequently, in June 1921 the reorganization of the institutions management was conducted, particularly, the Administration attached to universities was created, it consisted of the Rector, two Vice–rectors, the Deans of faculties, the Representatives of trade unions, the Provincial department of vocational education and communist establishment.

Concerning the internal organizational management of the ISE, in accordance with the “Temporary regulation on Higher Educational Institutions of Ukraine“, it was carried out by the Rector and the Commissioner, the first was responsible head of the high school and the other served as the legal representative of the government in it. For coordination of departments work was established the Office of the Institute, that consisted of the Rector, the Commissioner, the Vice–Rector, the Deputy Commissioner, the Deans of the faculties. There functioned also the general meeting, in which all teachers, technical staff and students’ representatives took part.

Existence of both the Rector and the Commissioner, who had a very considerable power, actually created dual power at an internally organizational level. The Commissioners were appointed by the Chief of Professional Education Committee and subordinated to this institution directly. All the Rector’s orders — educational, scientific, administrative and economic — had to be approved by the Commissioner. In the case when they did not meet the decrees, regulations or orders of the republic government, the Commissioner had the right to terminate their fulfillment. The Institute of Commissariat was canceled in October 1925.

The Code of laws on people’s education of the USSR was adopted in November 1, 1922. For the first time the Code identified the structure and tasks of the bodies of the peoples education in the Soviet Ukraine.

The working masses emancipation from spiritual slavery, the development of their identity, the creation of a communist society of new generation with the psychology of teamwork, with strong will, socially necessary qualifications and materialistic worldview were defined as the aim of Soviet upbringing and education3.

According to the provisions of the Code, vocational education institutions were divided into the following types: vocational school, technical school, college. Graduation of each of them foreseen the acquisition of a certain level of education and obtaining of the “Workers qualification“. Vocational education was recognized as obligatory and divided into lower (mass) and high school. Vocational school, for adolescents aged 15–17 years, became the mass and most affordable institution that provided the opportunity to obtain “Workers qualification” — profession. Experts with lower vocational education could continue their professional activity at work and had the right to enter the higher vocational educational establishments4.

With the adoption of the codified act, technical schools, which until 1922 were considered as secondary schools, were classified as higher education. So, technical schools were now on par with the institutions. The difference between technical schools and institutions — the technical schools had to prepare an engineer of narrow specialty, and Institute — an engineer organizer. Both types of higher education had different amounts of theoretical and practical knowledge.

It should be noted, that the development of higher education in the 20–ies in the USSR was accompanied by a policy of “Ukrainianization” and “indigenization“. The first steps in this direction were made in December 1919, so in the resolution “On the Soviet power in Ukraine“. The need for indigenization policy was caused by the fact that the government of the USSR with the acute shortage of staff, who could talk the language of the people among whom were working. Regulatory and legal basis for indigenization in Ukraine were: the Decree of the of the USSR CPC “On measures for Ukrainianization of school–educational, cultural and educational institutions” (July 1923), the joint Decree of the Central Executive Committee and the USSR CPC “On measures to ensure equality of languages and promote Ukrainian language” (August 1923), Decree of the Central Executive Committee and the USSR CPC “On urgent measures of full Ukrainianization of the Soviet apparatus conducting” (April 1925;) Resolution of the Plenum of the Central Committee of CP (b) on Ukrainianization of party and trade union apparatus (May 1925).

These documents foreseen numerous measures, in particular, government Ukrainianization, increasing the publication of Ukrainian books, publications of general–academic dictionary of Ukrainian and terminology dictionaries from different spheres of science5. However, late 20s–early 30s ukrainization minimized because it was regarded as “national bias“, and began HEIs Russification.

The emergence in higher education of student organizations that didn’t exist in prerevolutionary High School — an association of proletarian students, became the significant heritage of the 20–th. Creation of a student professional organization at the universities of Ukraine began in 1922 after the Trade unions in the Soviet Union  developed the “Regulations on the organization of the proletarian students in higher education” October 19226.

Conclusions. Summarizing the analyzed material, we can state that in Ukraine appeared an extensive network of the high schools, which weren’t known in pre–Soviet Ukraine, intensified research and inventive activity, student organization were formed, constant work to improve the quality of training and the use of qualified workers is carried out, increasing of the staff skills and so on. The 20–th, which were marked by the adoption of the Code of people’s education and conducting of the USSR Ukrainianization were the most prolific and crucial for the development of higher education.