Printer-friendly version

On September 25, the 5th session of the International Students School of Human Rights/Student Rights took place in Kyiv. Traditionally, the school is held for two days, the first of which is devoted to introducing the concept of Human Rights and advocacy, and the second – to Student Rights and searching solutions to the problems relating to students as a social group.

This time, the event was mostly attended by the experienced activists and participants of other educational programs from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia; so the seminar lasted only one day and was mainly devoted to student issues.  Apart from the traditional discussion of pressing daily living needs of students (problems with the dormitory, scholarship or travel benefits), the participants talked about the education system in general, its objectives and system errors; why society needs higher education, as well as why we come to our universities and who, in fact, we become after 4-5-6 years at the University.

The events, which stirred up Kyiv the day before, might well have affected the atmosphere of the workshop: the Forum of European Education ministers and the opposing counter-forum “The other side of education”, which gathered the young people with a different view on the system of higher education. Or the beginning of the year might have caused philosophical thought “why do we need it all?” Or, which is also possible, it could be the gradually growing need not only to think about particular problems and side effects of the existing education system, but also to put the question point-blank: “What and why should we do with our universities today, so that our society would have chances for the future?”

Another issue that arose repeatedly during the School, was the discussion of the problem who actually should be concerned with Students Rights, e.g. the right to quality education; and what quality education is: a guarantee of a well-paid job or an ability to think critically and create new breakthrough ideas and projects; who determines the criteria of the education and who is capable to monitor the implementation of the right to education. This discussion has again returned the participants of the workshop to the thought that the problems of students and universities are not only their problems, but also the problems of the entire society; and the protection of Student Rights during years of education is a good start for a conscious assertion of all human rights.