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DEVELOPMENT TRENDS OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM A.A. Beznosyuk
Education today, as is widely known, faces the need for profound all-encompassing changes that reflect the new paradigm of the scientific picture of the world, and the global socio-cultural transformation that society has faced in the establishment of a post-industrial civilization.
In this situation, the role of education changes fundamentally - the main institution for the production of the intellectual and cultural potential of society, and its transfer from generation to generation. From a simple factor of public and state life, education becomes a true object of changes of the disintegrating social milieu, which gives rise to new forms of public life, thus creating conditions for the establishment of a viable society. Education acquires the status of a mechanism of public and cultural development of regions, the country as a whole, and becomes the space of the personal development of each person.
New prospects and trends of development of education also require new methods of work with education itself and within it, based on important principles of the methodology of modern scientific thinking.
The goal of education is the all-round development of the person as a personality and a higher value of society. The development of the person’s talents, mental and physical abilities, high moral values, the formation of citizens capable of conscious public choice, the enrichment on the basis of the intellectual, creative and cultural potential of the people, raising the educational level of the people, and providing the economy with qualified specialists (the preamble to the Law of Ukraine "On education”).
In the last quarter of the 20th century, processes in our civilization sped up and became exacerbated, which leading scholars of the world define as the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial or information civilization, in which the processes of creation and the distribution of knowledge become of key importance. The majority of researchers believe with full justification that a radical reorganization of the existing system of education is necessary, which no longer meets modern requirements, and cannot provide quality preparation of people for the future, which is swiftly approaching and confronting humanity with increasing global problems.
The crisis of education is discussed by scholars and governments in practically all the countries in the world, including the most developed countries, and also by experts of such influential international organizations as UNESCO, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank. The modern education process has faced fundamental discord not only with the present, but also
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with the future. The system of values, goals and ideals which function at present in the educational process, which are not adapted to the future, increasingly lag behind the present, and thus make it impossible to solve the problem of emerging from the crisis in society in nature, which is increasingly worsening.
Let us examine the main prerequisites that cause the need for a reform in education systems in different countries around the world.
Firstly, it should be noted that over the last 20-30 years in the world economy, new trends have been established, and have continued to increase, which will have determining significance in the 21st century for the further course of economic development in all countries. These trends include globalization above all. Globalization is characterized by an activation of processes of economic integration and a deepening of the international division of labor, an increase in social dynamics and mobility of the work force, and a rise in international competition on the work market.
Another trend is integration and liberalization of international economic activity and markets of goods, services and labor. National economies are opening up, which means a gradual (although not always consistent and linear) weakening or elimination of obstacles for the international movement of goods, services, objects of intellectual property, work, capital and financial resources.
Globalization and integration make increasing demands on high education. For the modern world market of educational services, processes of regionalization of education markets are characteristics, and also an increase of competition on national and regional markets, and on the world market as a whole.
Another feature of the modern stage of development is the acceleration of the scientific and technical revolution. Science becomes a productive force of society, the role and percentage of intellectual work in the gross national product increases, and as a result the role of education in the economic and social development of society increases.
The level of development of the national system of education will not only become an important condition of the economic and political independence of countries, but also a necessary condition of effectively entering the world economic community, and assisting social progress. All societies - both modern and post-industrial societies, and those that are modernizing or developing, face a need of access to high-quality higher education, diversification of sorts and types of higher education programs, and an increase in demand for a fundamentalization of basic knowledge and highly-qualified specialists.
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Higher education increasingly determines the social status and economic level of the person. As a result of this, higher education is transforming from an elite to a mass phenomenon. The percentage of people with higher education among the working population is: 25% in the USA, 20% in Israel, 13% in Germany, 12% in the Netherlands and the UK, 11% in France, 8% in Italy and 7% in Poland. In the USA, citizens with higher education (period of study over 14.5 years) make up 25% of the workers, who earn more than half the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Modern society is increasingly become of a cognitive nature, and thus is becoming increasingly independent on the quality of education and its international openness, which in general serves to assist the development of society. Human development is the process of expanding the possibilities of choice for citizens of society. It is determined by three main strategies, which give the person the opportunity:
- To live a long life, remaining in good health;
- To acquire education throughout the course of life;
- To have access to means that ensure a worthy living standard.
The increasing information flows and high-technology production
does not require niche specialists, but specialists of a wide profile, capable of switching from one type of activity to another, with strong communication skills and experience., Young people with a diploma of higher education should know what is happening at the forefront of science. Education should give people fundamental natural scientific and humanitarian knowledge, arm them with the correct world view, the ability to perceive society as a complex system which develops according to appropriate laws, the ability to gain a profound understanding of the essence of processes that take part in society, and construct scientifically justified conclusions.
In science and education, globalization of research and study activity takes place by formation of new research networks and systems of longdistance study, which operate in the world regardless of geographical or political borders.
In post-Soviet nations, besides general factors, there are a number of causes which may be determined as specific. Above all, this is the change in the socio-economic system, the transition from a rigid planned economy to a market economy, the replacement of command-and-control management methods with modern methods of economic regulation. In new nations, industrial relations have changed fundamentally, which have led to work with specific requirements appearing, competitive battle etc. In this situation, training a niche specialist for a specific job with subsequent job placement has become unprofitable and even impossible.
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The analysis makes it possible to conclude that there is a need for profound, fundamental changes in the education system, in order to ensure that it meets the conditions and the needs of the 21st century. In reforming higher education in Ukraine, all the best things that existed in the old system must be preserved and developed, and there should also be a creative use of the achievements of international experience, and there should be persistent searches for the new. The main goal of reform is ensuring quality of education which meets the needs of modern society, which develops taking into account the economic capabilities and real needs of the state. According to the majority of researchers, the main priority strategic goals, at least for the next few decades, should be the following:
1. Formation of a holistic personality, which possesses a wide scientific world view, creative thinking and abilities for further self-development in a complex world that is swiftly changing.
2. Formation of scientific ideas about the main trends and patterns of process of change in the surrounding world, and also development of abilities to predict the future and take decisions in conditions of uncertainty.
3. To instill in people a level of spirituality and morality which could become the basis for a strategy of further safe development of civilization in a situation where the population of the planet is constantly growing, natural resources are exhausted, ecological problems accumulate, and dangerous technologies appear.
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