ural vocational-technical schools, and the whole system of vocational training was transferred to the jurisdiction of a state committee of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR.
Under Nikita Khrushchev an attempt was made to unify secondary general education with rudimentary vocational education, in a system of specialized secondary and higher education offering practical experience of production processes in enterprises. The attempt failed, and in 1964 professional and vocational training was again reorganized.
In Western Ukraine under Austrian rule, in the 19th century professional and vocational education was poorly developed, and both the authorities and the Ukrainian community focused on the development of the general education school system. Lviv University and Chernivtsi University offered professional education, although few Ukrainians were enrolled there because of discriminatory policies. The Lviv Higher Polytechnical School was founded in 1844, and there were veterinary schools, agricultural schools, and forestry schools in Lviv as well. There were practically no public vocational schools with Ukrainian as the language of instruction, and only one private secondary-level trade school, operated by the Prosvita society in Lviv. There was also a Prosvita agricultural school of lower rank in Myluvannia.
In Western Ukraine under Polish rule, professional and vocational education continued to be weak. The most highly developed professional schools were institutions offering pedagogical training. Professional education organized by the Galician land board was poorly developed; there were only a few schools at the secondary level (eg, commercial art and trade schools in Lviv) and a few more of lower rank (primarily vocational schools). Polish was the language of instruction.
In 1937–8 there were 146 secondary vocational schools (91 in Galicia and 55 in Volhynia), with 22,000 students (17,300 and 4,700 respectively). The number of Ukrainian students attending these schools was negligible because the transition from rural elementary schools to professional and secondary schools was difficult. In Galicia the Ukrainian community gradually developed private professional schools—four secondary and eight lower schools. In the Lviv school district, out of 154 secondary and lower vocational schools only 13 were Ukrainian-language institutions; out of 97 schools offering supplementary vocational instruction 5 gave instruction in Ukrainian, and all were private institutions. Various community organizations, such as the Ridna Shkola society and the Prosvita societies, offered short-term vocational courses. During the Second World War, under the Generalgouvernement, professional and vocational education expanded owing to Ukrainian community efforts. There were 330 professional schools, with 81,885 students. In 1941–2, higher education programs were organized in the fields of medicine, veterinary science, pharmacy, technology, agronomy, and forestry.
In Bukovyna, under Romanian rule, there were few opportunities for professional and vocational education. In 1927 all Ukrainian-language schools were closed. Transcarpathia, under Czechoslovak rule, was in a better situation. In 1938 there were 5 teachers' seminaries (4 with Ukrainian as the language of instruction) and 3 secondary vocational schools (all Ukrainian, including the Trade Academy in Mukachevo), 9 lower vocational schools (of which 8 were Ukrainian), and 151 supplementary vocational schools (113 Ukrainian).
In contemporary Ukraine lower-grade vocational education is provided in vocational-technical schools, which, beginning in 1969, have gradually been transformed into institutions of secondary education offering general education as well as instruction in a specific trade. Full-time and part-time programs are offered that vary from one to three years. In 1986 there were 1,100 such schools, with 742,000 students. Institutions of secondary special education provide middle-grade vocational or semiprofessional education (for the training of technicians, paramedics, an