Translated material
Life without VAK
Scientific editor of "Polit.ua" Andrey Portnov, historian, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Ukraine Moderna", about the new decree of Viktor Yanukovych.
On December 9, Viktor Yanukovych, in one fell swoop (i.e., with one decree “On optimization of the system of central executive bodies”), did what post-Soviet intellectuals had been talking about for so long and fruitlessly in post-Soviet kitchens - he abolished the institution from which he himself had once received diplomas of “Doctor of Economic Sciences” and “Professor”. The author of these lines recently discussed on the Internet pages of “Ab Imperio” whether there is life without the Higher Attestation Commission. It turned out that there really is! True, the functions of the Higher Attestation Commission have been transferred to the Ministry of Education and Science, so “The King is dead!” Long live the king!".
One of the most important elements of university autonomy—the right of universities to independently award academic degrees—may once again be forgotten. But I would still like to hear answers to other questions: where should applicants now submit documents (a nice Soviet word) who have already completed the protection procedure, but did not have time to complete all the bureaucratic paperwork? What will happen to the VAK list of scientific publications? Finally, will the money for the subscription to the “VAK Bulletin” paid for next year be returned?
In accordance with the logic of almost all “reforms” in the field of science and education that Ukraine has experienced to date, the matter will most likely come down to renaming. That is, in the new structural division of the ministry, all (or almost all) elements of the classic bureaucratic Higher Attestation Commission scheme will be revived. “Candidates of Science” will be renamed “Doctors of Philosophy”, the Higher Attestation Commission - into some kind of “Fakhov Attestation Commission” and will continue to depict “consistent approximation to European standards.” But I would still like not to make assumptions, but to hear from the authorities how they see the functioning of the new structure.
I admit that for the Minister of Education Dmitry Tabachnik, Yanukovych’s decree was no less a surprise than for ordinary citizens. Perhaps that is why he was in no hurry to make a statement that the liquidation of the Higher Attestation Commission is another illustration of “Ukraine’s movement in the European direction.” It is also interesting that no one came out in defense of the Higher Attestation Commission! In contrast to the Institute of National Remembrance, which was vigorously defended by people who had lost any remaining influence on this decorative institution. It is comical that the Ukrainian INP (which never received at its disposal either the KGB archives or other significant state functions) was defended by “our Ukrainian” deputies, but not by the party colleagues of the current director, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Valery Soldatenko. It’s even more interesting that they still protected Viktor Yushchenko’s creation! But no one defended the creation of Comrade Stalin (the Higher Attestation Commission was invented in 1932 and began to operate in 1934).
The “reform” carried out using the blitzkrieg method did not receive a single public discussion, and when it became a fait accompli, it received no interpretations or explanations. This best illustrates the attitude of the authorities towards us, citizens (regardless of profession or social status). And the absence of the slightest protests, complete confusion, multiplied by total apathy, best illustrates the attitude of us, citizens, to the authorities. Private entrepreneurs managed, albeit briefly, to attract public attention to the problematic areas of the Tax Code. Workers in the field of science and education are unlikely to be able to attract public attention to the problems of the Higher Attestation Commission. The total frustration of these communities surprisingly correlates with the deep conviction of the current government that educational and scientific issues are not even third-tier, but ten-tier. If in neighboring Poland the Council of Rectors of the largest universities formulates clear proposals to the Ministry of Education, the implementation of which should consistently increase the competitiveness of the Polish educational system in Europe and the world, then the rectors of Ukrainian universities are racing to make loyal declarations. Those who are not in too much of a hurry can expect the fate of the former rector of Donetsk University, who was instantly dismissed from his position without explaining the reasons for this decision.
Under such conditions, the government can do almost anything with the sphere of education and science. Now the attack on the, albeit relative, autonomy of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy continues. The only higher educational institution that has stood in solidarity with Mogilyanka is so far the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv - an object of no less brutal pressure from the authorities. Other universities pretend that this does not concern them. Or they tremble with fear. Or they are happy that competition in the form of universities will finally disappear, which, although not always consistently, nevertheless introduced international education standards.
The only good news: even if the new structure within the Ministry of Education is worse than its predecessor (and experience shows that it can always be even worse), the acronym VAK is unlikely to return to the official nomenclature. So, at least on the verbal level, Ukraine will become one less linguistic rudiment from the times of Stalinism.