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A delegation from Kherson State University – Rector Oleksandr Spivakovskyi, First Vice-Rector Serhii Omelchuk, and Vice-Rector for Digitalization Oleksandr Lemeshchuk – participated in the Dialogue Platform «University_Is_People».
The event took place at Lviv Polytechnic National University with the participation of representatives from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, rectors, and experts in the educational field.
Oleksandr Spivakovsky spoke during the expert panel «Modernization of criteria for teacher qualification compliance: external assessment», which was moderated by the head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Andrii Butenko. Participants discussed the modernization of criteria for teacher qualification compliance and approaches to external assessment.
Oleksandr Spivakovsky began his speech with a metaphor:
"They say that one day Albert Einstein gave a lecture in an auditorium designed for two hundred students. But only six people attended the class.
If his work were to be evaluated solely by formal indicators, the conclusion could be simple: the auditorium is almost empty, attendance is low, and resources are being used inefficiently.
Perhaps someone would even suggest questioning the effectiveness of such a teacher.
But there is one important detail: among those six students were future Nobel laureates.
I do not know how much this story is a historical fact. But as a metaphor, it makes one reflect on a very important question: what exactly are we evaluating: process or result, massiveness or impact, quantity or quality?".
Oleksandr Spivakovsky emphasized that today we are talking not only about the criteria for evaluating a teacher.
"In reality, we are looking for an answer to a much deeper question: how to ensure the quality of higher education in conditions of rapid change.
I am convinced that quality is born neither from total control nor from absolute freedom. It is born from a properly constructed balance between the national framework and university autonomy, between trust and responsibility," – noted the rector.
According to him, Ukraine's educational space is changing rapidly today. COVID-19 accelerated digital transformation. The war has changed the geography of higher education. Relocated universities, including Kherson State University, have gained unique experience in functioning under conditions of uncertainty, preserving the academic community, and ensuring the quality of education despite all challenges.
"That is why we must gradually move from the «check papers» model to the «assess professional competence» model. To see not only documents but the results of a teacher's work, student successes, the ability to work in a modern digital educational environment, and the readiness to develop along with the changes in the world.
Today, the necessary tools already exist for this: data analytics, digital footprints of professional activity, continuous monitoring of the educational process, and artificial intelligence tools. Digitalization does not eliminate control—it makes it more objective, transparent, and evidence-based.
And one more thought that is particularly important to me today.
Ukraine does not have the luxury of being merely resilient. We must be antifragile—that is, not only to withstand challenges but to become stronger because of them.
I am convinced that this is precisely what the future of Ukrainian higher education and its quality assurance system lies in.
I thank my colleagues—Bohdan Morklyanyk, Deputy Head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance; Oksana Oliynyk, Rector of Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University; Yaroslav Prytula, First Vice-Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University—for a professional discussion and a joint search for answers to the challenges facing universities today. And I thank the team of the National Agency for their openness to dialogue," – summarized Oleksandr Spivakovsky.