Counterfeit certificates in Odesa region are exception, not rule

There were cases when school graduates provided counterfeit certificates with results of external assessment of education quality to admissions commissions. These incidents were isolated and should not be considered as a major trend," said Dmytro Demchenko, head of the education department of the Odesa oblast state administration, at a press conference.
The oblast state administration representative added that admissions commissions conducted their work very well, as witnessed by numerous inspections.

"I would like to particularly thank the [Odesa] regional center of education quality assessment for the tremendous work and everyone who participated in organizing the testing [process]," added Demchenko.

Speaking about the problems and lessons of the 2008 admissions campaign, the head of the education department of the Odesa oblast state administration said that the issue of "privileged and exempt students" needs to be resolved, because "this year there were incidents when a graduate scored 200 points, but could only attend university by [paid] contract, because the state-funded spots were already taken by the privileged and exempt students ".

Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkassy know mathematics best              26.08.2008

Ukrainian journalists continue analyzing the results of external testing. The most expensive and prestigious schools in Kyiv did not show the best results in terms of knowledge results.

In terms of mathematics, the top 5 schools include the Dnipropetrovsk Lyceum of Informational Technologies and the Cherkasy Physics and Math Lyceum (100% students from both schools scored "A+" in the tests), Physics and Math Lyceum of the Lviv National University (97.89%), Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Physics and Math Lyceum (97.62%) and the Ukrainian Physics and Mathematics Lyceum of the Shevchenko National University in Kyiv with 97.06%.

The top school in terms of testing in Ukrainian language and literature was the Ukrainian High School1 (Ivano-Frankivsk) where 97% of test-taking students scored "A+."  Second place went to the Classic High School of the Lviv National University (90%) followed by the Ukrainian Humanitarian Lyceum of the Shevchenko National University in Kyiv (86%), Ukrainian Physics and Mathematics Lyceum of the Shevchenko National University in Kyiv (82%) and the Lyceum of Zhytomir State Technical University with 81% "A+" students.

Noteworthy is that the most expensive and most prestigious schools and lyceums in Kyiv scored low results.

According to the Volodymyr Spivakovsky, the founder of Grand Lyceum in Kyiv (where parents pay on average from 700-820 euros per month), educational institutions like Grand have other goals and tasks.

"Some schools have the goal of obtaining high results in mathematics or literature. We have other goals. We want to provide combined knowledge that will help schoolchildren attain the top posts and earn top wages. This is not provided by specialized knowledge in only a few subject areas," assured Spivakovsky.

He said that the children of diplomats, businessmen and bankers are students at the Grand Lyceum. "If we had unacceptable results then they would never trust their children to us" said the Lyceum founder.