Professional and vocational education
Professional and vocational education (професійна освіта; profesiina osvita). The acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills required for entry into specific professions or occupations, obtained through educational institutions or training programs. In modern society, professional education (such as law, medicine, engineering) is acquired at institutions of higher learning, and entry into such establishments demands complete secondary education; vocational training is obtained either in secondary special schools, technical schools, or vocational schools or through apprenticeship programs.
The first institutions to offer vocational education in Ukraine were the artisan schools organized in the mid-16th century by guild organizations of the Orthodox brotherhoods in Lviv (Lviv Dormition Brotherhood), Kyiv (Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood), and Peremyshl. In Russian-ruled Ukraine, by 1716 the so-called tsyferni (numbers) schools had been established in provincial capitals to train scribes, assistants to master shipbuilders, architects, and apothecaries. The origins of professional education in Ukraine date back to the 18th century, with the establishment of theological seminaries and institutions such as the medical-surgical school in Yelysavethrad. Toward the end of the 18th century the first agricultural schools were established. In 1839 a veterinary school was founded in Kharkiv. Further development occurred with the establishment of universities—Kharkiv University (1805) and Kyiv University (1834)—and of lyceums, which emerged as centers of higher education (legal, pedagogical, and medical training in particular).
A network of professional schools began to develop in the 1860s with the abolition of serfdom, the rise of the zemstvo schools, and the development of trade and industry. Professional and vocational education became the concern of district and gubernia zemstvos, some ministries, and private individuals and societies. An important role was played by Western European industrialists, who developed Ukraine’s industry, and who brought with them their own engineers, technicians, and skilled workers, from whom the local population acquired knowledge and skills. The organization of professional schools was decreed by a law enacted in 1869. Regulations passed in 1888 divided technical-industrial schools into three groups: (1) secondary technical schools, with a 4-year program for the training of technicians, (2) lower technical schools, with a 3-year program for training master craftsmen and tradesmen, and (3) trade schools, with a 3-year program for preparing skilled workers.
Between 1870 and 1890 Realschulen had supplementary classes of applied mechanical and chemical studies, and had commerce departments which offered specialized secondary education. Toward the end of the 19th century important professional schools were founded, such as the Kharkiv Technological Institute (1885) (now National Technical University «Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute»), the Kyiv Polytechnical Institute (1898), and the Katerynoslav Higher Mining School (1899).
Prior to the Revolution of 1917 there were 16 higher professional schools (including 4 technical, 3 medical, 3 pedagogical, and 2 commercial), 125 secondary professional schools (including 66 commercial, 23 pedagogical, 11 art, 9 theological, and 6 agricultural), and 535 lower schools (369 trade and industrial, 54 agricultural, 34 pedagogical, 30 theological, 21 commercial, 16 medical, and 11 art). As a rule professional and vocational education was poorly developed in Russian-ruled Ukraine in comparison with Western Europe. The tsarist regime stymied the development of the country’s productive forces and paid little attention to the establishment of a network of professional and vocational schools in Ukraine.
During the Ukrainian struggle for independence (1917–20) efforts were made to Ukrainianize professional and vocational education, since all instruction had hitherto been conducted in Russian. Plans were also made by the educational authoriti