Seminar “Development and Implementation of Joint Master’s Programs” – Cluster for Quality Assurance of Educational Programs (28.11.2024, Kyiv)
28 November 2024, the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” hosted the seminar “Development and Implementation of Joint Master’s Programs” – a cluster event on quality assurance of educational programs. The event was organised by the National Erasmus+ Office – Ukraine with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as a follow-up to the Regional Seminar “Developing and Implementing Joint Master’s Degree Programmes: Current Challenges and Prospectives”, held within the Erasmus+ Programme’s Technical Assistance Mission (TAM) on 25–26 April 2024 at Yerevan State University, involving the National Erasmus+ Offices in Armenia and Ukraine.
The seminar focused on identifying challenges and opportunities in developing, implementing, quality assuring, and accrediting joint master’s programs in Ukraine, building on the experience of Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters projects and recommendations from the TAM regional seminar experts.
The event gathered 29 participants, including the National Erasmus+ Office – Ukraine team and 18 representatives of higher education institutions experienced in developing and implementing joint educational programs, particularly under Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters projects. Among them were representatives from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,” National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute,” Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, State Aviation Institute of Kyiv, and two speakers from the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv), who joined online.
Mychailo WYNNYCKYJ, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, highlighted the key challenges in developing, implementing, and ensuring the quality of joint programs and shared his vision for their development in Ukraine under martial law. Oleh SHAROV, Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Pre-Higher and Higher Education, National Higher Education Reform Expert of the Erasmus+ Programme (HERE team), emphasised the importance of defining key requirements for implementing coordinated joint educational programs, including approval processes, funding, admissions, educational process, mobility, evaluation and accreditation, preparation and defence of qualification theses, and issuance of joint (double) diplomas. He stressed the urgent need to implement the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education” by adopting the Ministry of Education and Science’s methodological recommendations on implementing coordinated joint educational programs and issuing joint (double) diplomas.
Experienced participants shared specific cases of implementing international joint educational programs. Representatives from other higher education institutions interested in establishing joint programs also joined the discussion, addressing the challenges hindering the development of national and international joint master’s programs, including within Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters projects. Among them were the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Odesa Polytechnic National University, Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Yuri Kondratyuk National University of Poltava Polytechnic, Mariupol State University, and Kyiv Academic University.
The discussion concluded with the need to base the methodological recommendations for implementing coordinated joint educational programs and issuing joint (double) diplomas on the guide “Joint Programmes from A to Z: A Reference Guide for Practitioners” (2020). These recommendations are to be finalised by February 2025.
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