Pupil and student mobility
Mobility is the opportunity for learners and teachers to temporarily study or teach at another educational institution in Ukraine or abroad. It implies the ability to quickly adapt to new conditions. In secondary education, learning mobility may involve exchange of experiences, short-term internships, or participation in projects that expand knowledge, skills and understanding of other cultures.
Types of mobility in secondary education include the following:
- credit mobility: studying at another institution to gain credits or competencies that will be recognised at the home school;
- project mobility: participation of learners in joint projects with other schools or countries;
- exchange mobility: temporary exchange of learners or teachers between schools to gain new experience.
The benefits of mobility include the following:
- gaining new experience: the opportunity to study within a different education system and gain new experiences;
- language skills improvement: improving foreign language skills, which is important for professional development;
- expanding horizons: personal development, intercultural skills and professional knowledge.
International academic mobility of learners and teaching staff may take the form of their participation in bilateral and multilateral international exchange programmes.
Learners retain their status and place of study in the relevant educational institution of Ukraine. For that, they need to continue their general secondary education in Ukraine in one of the available forms (except full-time). They may follow an individual curriculum. Those learners must pass a state final certification (assessment of learning outcomes) to progress to the next year of study and/or to receive an appropriate educational document.
Participants in international exchange programmes retain personal scholarships, awards or incentives from all the parties, including the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, etc. They lose the right to scholarships only in cases of termination of Ukrainian citizenship.
Learners of vocational education and training institutions (VETIs) and professional pre-higher education institutions (PPEIs) may participate in academic mobility if:
- there are cooperation agreements with foreign educational institutions, international organisations, and other individuals or legal entities;
- the purpose of international cooperation is achieving learning outcomes and/or relevant competencies with their mutual recognition. Ukrainian learners may attend a foreign VETI, and foreign learners may attend a Ukrainian VETI. The main requirement is transferability of the received ECTS credits for the fulfilment of the educational component of the relevant educational and professional programme;
- participation in the international cooperation programme of the VET will not lead to an increase in the standard period for obtaining the educational and qualification level of ‘skilled worker’. It applies to the learners studying at the cost of the state or local budget funds. Otherwise, after the end of the standard training period, the learner must pay for the training personally;
- recognition of learning outcomes within the framework of international cooperation includes the comparison of the achieved results with results planned by the educational and professional programme at the learner’s permanent place of study;
The Ukrainian participant signed an agreement on participation in the international cooperation programme. It should contain all the terms of the academic mobility process.
Teacher mobility
Teachers participating in international exchange programmes retain their jobs at the relevant educational institution in Ukraine without losing their salaries. During the temporary absence of a teacher, the educational institution may hire another person for that position under a fixed-term employment contract.