Battered Suitcases

This morning we met again at the IREX office and our guide Iryna shared information about Ukrainian education system. I have so much information and I will share only a small portion here.

School is compulsory until the age of 15. Most students continue with their studies in what is considered ‘higher education’ or they attend a vocational – technical school. There are 15 different types of schools and a normal school year is 196 days. In the U.S., school systems are governed by individual states (OH is different than KY) but in Ukraine, the governing body is the State (which is equivalent to our federal government). Textbooks are contracted by the State and all students in Ukraine should be using the same textbooks but there are abuses.

Of interest to teachers in the U.S.:

· The central government (the State) determines salaries and it is independent of years of service and qualifications. The average teacher salary is $250 US/month! Most teachers spend 18 hours/week in the classroom but receive salary bonuses (a way to offset the low wages) participating in class guidance and grading written assignments.

· Students spend only 2 hours/week studying science in their early education. When they reach form 5 – 9 (essentially middle school), the time spent studying natural science is 1050 hours/year and in form 10 – 11 the hours drop to 210 hours/year!

Much more to come regarding assessment, teacher training, getting into university, etc. I will share this information with you when I return to Mercy.

After another excellent meal, we were welcomed at the U.S. Embassy. I have never been to an embassy and the security was very high. In fact, we were told to erase the photos we took. I am including one here. Embassy officials took photos of us inside the building and I will include those at a later date.

We met with Public Affairs, a gentleman from Cincinnati, who discussed the role of the Embassy in Ukraine. The U.S. recently celebrated its 20^th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Ukraine! We also met with representatives of the political and economic divisions. Of special interest is the arrest and imprisonment of Julia Tymoshenko and several members of the opposition party (the Orange party). The U.S. has denounced the imprisonment, which has strained relations with the Central Government. So, Mercy students, tell me more about Julia Tymoshenko and why we should be interested in her arrest and imprisonment.

It is now 11:30 p.m. in Kyiv. What time is it in Cincinnati?

This evening we attended a performance of the Kyiv Ballet. They performed "Carmen" and "Scheherazade". Wow!