Innovative Approaches in Public Administration To Manage The Quality of Educational Services In The Conditions of Transformation in Ukraine

Formulation of the problem

One of the prerequisites for sustainable development of society is quality and efficient system of educational services. Education is an important strategic resource for the formation of a self-sufficient personality, ensuring national interests, creating a positive image of the state in the international arena. It should be noted that education, having transformed into an integrated system of educational structures, relations and activities, performs the function of ensuring the reproduction and development of the intellectual potential of planetary (global) society, and at all levels of government. The quality of education is the basis for ensuring and improving the quality of human life as the main goal of the state. This criterion is basic, occupies a special place in the process of reforming Ukrainian society and is part of the social function of public administration. At the same time, the sphere of education and its administration is at the next stage of reform, covering all levels of education: from preschool education to the scientific level of higher education. The importance of education in the modern world, past or future is difficult to overestimate. Education contributes formation of thinking, intellectually developed, conscious, competitive personality and highly developed society. It provides intensive development of all sectors of the national economy, stimulates the growth of the economic potential of the country and the welfare of the population, as well as the prestige of the country in the world community. Thus, education favors a powerful means of strengthening the economic and national security of the country. Any reform, in particular as regards education administration, should be based on the widespread use of innovative technologies to improve the quality of educational services. The introduction of an effective quality management system for educational services can ensure that higher education institutions achieve the appropriate level of the quality of services they provide. Only in this way will higher education institutions be able to take a leading position in the market, become profitable, independent and competitive entities.

Analysis of Recent Research

Today, Ukraine’s development largely depends on the implementation of public administration reforms, the availability of an educated and skilled workforce and the efficient use of natural and human resources. At the same time, the problem of ensuring the quality of education at all stages of its acquisition, given its social, economic and cultural significance, is determined at the level of one of the priority areas.

Many domestic scholars in the field of law and public administration have been engaged in research on this issue, in particular V.B. Averyanov, A.V. Andreev, G.V. Atamanchuk, S.A., Vavrenyuk, D.L. Raven, Hubersʹka, В.А. Humenyuk, С.М. Dombrovska, S.V. Kivalov, V.K. Kolpakov, M.N. Kurko, О.В. Kuzmenka, O.V. Lavrinenkо, С.А. Moroz, V.M. Ogarenko, O.I. Ostapenko, O.V. Perchuk, H.А. Polyanovsky, M.I. Stepanenko, S.G. Stetsenko, R.V. Shapoval, Yu.S. Shemshuchenko, R.G. Shchokin and others. In general, scientists who are in the management system of higher education institutions operate with such concepts as “quality management”, “quality management” educational services ” and “quality assurance”. Thus, N.V. Varzhina (2004) suggests to understand “quality management” regulation of the functioning of the subject of market relations, its direction in selected direction. As for “quality management of public education services”, the most complete and its most detailed definition was formulated by K. Parsyak (2013): “activity with planning; organization of compliance with quality requirements; control over it current state with fixation of deviations from expected (normative) parameters; analysis of the reasons that led to their occurrence; introduction measures to adjust the work of the staff of the structural unit of the university, including measures to motivate him”. I.S. Kalenyuk (2011) believes that, upon completion of training at the consumer educational services, skill formation, knowledge, skills, competencies, which will promote their professional growth. A. Rumyantsev and Y. Kovalenko (2006) are also partially right; they believe educational service is a product that is transformed into a labor force. However, the financial and legal aspects of the process of public administration of the quality of educational services in modern conditions are insufficiently studied and require a systematic analysis of the dominant components and ways of optimization.

The purpose of the article

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need for the use of innovative technologies for the modernization of the system of public administration of the educational sector and the quality of educational services in the context of social transformations.

Presentation of the Main Research Material

A quality system of educational services is one of the prerequisites for the sustainable development of the state. In the context of European and global integration of Ukraine, as well as the formation of a market economy, education becomes a commodity in the market of services and depending on its quality and efficiency of management, being closely linked to the labor market and socio-economic development of society as a whole future.

It is important to note that in this case the object of market relations is not education as a process and result of learning knowledge, skills and abilities, which is an element of the intellectual sphere, and educational service as “a set of actions of the subject of educational activities” program and/or contract that have a certain value and are aimed at achieving the expected learning outcomes of the student” (2017). Therefore, public administration in the field of educational services should be based on the use of innovative technologies, taking into account the characteristics of such a specific product.

Education as a complex and diverse phenomenon has been and remains the object of research by scientists in various fields, so its content is not limited to the normatively defined definition, but varies depending on the field of knowledge. The new education management system should provide accelerated advanced innovation development, as well as provide conditions for the development, self-affirmation and self-realization of each individual throughout life. The National Doctrine of Education Development of Ukraine states that “the modern education management system should develop as a state-public, should take into account regional features, trends in increasing the autonomy of educational institutions, the competitiveness of their educational services” (2012).

In the framework of public administration, education should be considered as “public relations arising in the process of realization of the constitutional human right to education, rights and responsibilities of individuals and legal entities involved in the exercise of this right, and determines the competence of state bodies local self-government in the field of education” (2017).

According to G.O. Ponomarenko (2009), educational service in this case acts as “the activities of authorized entities related to ensuring the implementation of constitutional human and civil rights to education (transfer over a period of time or constantly a set of knowledge, skills and abilities that determine a certain level or degree) on a paid or unpaid basis, which is able to meet the needs of the individual, society and the state”.

Education as an object of public administration has certain features: multistage; connection of education with various spheres of public life; a significant number of problems that affect the quality of educational services and that can be solved through the use of new approaches and technologies. Among the problematic aspects of public administration in the field of education is the lack of legislative significance of the concept of “public administration”, insufficient legal support of certain educational components (distance education, interactive education, postgraduate education, etc.), a large number of institutions that provide educational services. We believe that the innovative approach implemented by the Ministry of Education and Culture is the reorientation of the educational system from the quantitative assessment of the level of knowledge to the qualitative indicators of administrative educational services to ensure the effective functioning of education by establishing equal and transparent conditions and rules (2012).

The market of educational services is characterized by a number of features: 1) a variety of forms and types of educational services; 2) the presence of a wide network of non-governmental entities for the provision of educational services; 3) focus on the needs of the labor market; 4) deepening the selective function of education; 5) dynamism and a high level of adaptation of education to today’s requirements. However, there are a number of significant disadvantages:

 First, due to the lack of pure competition between private and public educational institutions and effective mechanisms for regulating the pricing policy for the provision of educational services, the tendency to reduce the number of consumers in the higher education market and their social stratification is growing.

Secondly, there is an imbalance between supply and demand in the market of educational services, accompanied by a decrease in the number of workers.

Third, there is a gap between the theoretical knowledge that students receive in educational institutions and the practical skills that employers need.

Given these shortcomings, there is a question of state support for the introduction of innovative approaches to the regulation of relations between the subjects in the market of educational services. It is necessary to focus on the following aspects:

ensuring the quality of education by encouraging healthy competition between educational institutions of various forms of ownership, regulation of pricing policy;

introduction of the uniform newest educational standards focused on the European educational space at all levels of education and all its directions;

ensuring the orientation of the market of educational services to the labor market and overcoming the gap between supply and demand, which will contribute not only to meeting the needs of society, but also to the  economic growth (2012).

Thus, the formation of the market of educational services is an unconditional advantage in the context of globalization and the dynamic process of change in all spheres of social development. There are problems, the solution of which is necessary for the effective functioning of this area, but is impossible without state intervention in the implementation of public administration. The opinion of Kolesnikova K.O. (2013) is correct, in their study, the stateg that public administration is a component of social governance. Public administration is a clear link between the public and public administration, ensuring the implementation of its decisions. The key elements for public administration are the state and state power.  Of public administration Authoritarianism is characteristic. Public administration introduces democratic values and contributes to the sustainable development of our state in the process of social transformation (2020).

In our opinion, public administration is man-centered and better corresponds to the modern realities of practice, as it is aimed at the direct realization of the goals set by the political authorities. and for public administration, society and public authorities.

Lawyer R.S. (2018) Schokin defines the administration of education as a specially organized activity of public administration aimed at ensuring the proper functioning of the education system in accordance with the goals and objectives of educational policy. Although further in the same study it is about the administration in the field of education, which is associated with activities aimed at developing, adopting and implementing organizational, control, coordination and other measures taken to create pedagogical, social, logistical, personnel conditions for the proper functioning and development of education.

The innovativeness of public education management is associated with the implementation of new approaches to the functioning of the external quality assurance system of education, which includes such tools, procedures and measures to ensure and improve the quality of education, as “standardization; licensing of educational activities, accreditation of educational programs, institutional and public accreditation, external independent evaluation of learning outcomes, institutional audit, monitoring the quality of education, certification of teachers, certification of teachers and other tools, procedures and activities defined by special laws” (2017).

In view of the above, public administration of the quality of educational services can be defined as the activities of public administration, which is to establish, change or terminate the rights and obligations of participants in educational relations through the adoption of regulations, administrative acts, legally significant actions to meeting the needs of the individual, society and the state. Modern educational legislation is in the process of reform, in need of updating and improvement, and a significant number of regulations in this area, due to the diversity of educational relations, suggests that the education sector is under state influence through clear regulation of relations in this area.

Reforming the education system in Ukraine at all levels: from primary school to higher education institutions, began with updating the legal framework: the adoption of the Laws of Ukraine “On Education”, “On Higher Education”, and subsequently amended the Law of Ukraine On Vocational Education”, “On Preschool Education” and the Law of Ukraine“On Complete General Secondary Education” was adopted.

The need to change the quality approach to education arose due to its complete inconsistency with modern human and social demands, the needs of the labor market and the economy in general, as well as global trends. The adoption of these legislative acts is associated with the need for radical changes in the field of education, the ultimate goal of which should be to improve the quality and competitiveness of education, to address those strategic objectives, which are determined by the needs of society and determined by the state and which will ultimately ensure the integration of national education in the European and world space.

A significant array of educational legislation is by laws: decrees of the President of Ukraine, resolutions and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and orders of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which determine the main directions of development and reform of education, regulate in detail the legal status of educational entities. In this context, it is worth noting the Regulation on the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Orders of the Ministry of Education and Science are usually aimed at regulating certain types of educational relations.

Innovative state educational policy can be ensured through fundamental changes in concepts, programs, doctrines, strategies approved by acts of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. For example, the State National Program “Education” (“Ukraine of the XXI century”) defines strategic objectives and the main ways to reform education, outlines the content of education, and the National Strategy for Education in Ukraine, and specifies the main ways to implement conceptual ideas of education. Due to the large number of acts of educational legislation, among scholars there is often a position on the need for their codification in order to improve the quality of legislation, eliminate legal gaps and conflicts, abolish outdated norms and ensur terminological unity (2017).

In our opinion, the codification of legislation does not always indicate an improvement in its quality, and given the specifics and features of educational relations at different levels of education, the unification of norms governing these relations is unlikely. In addition, the field of education belongs to the areas that are developing rapidly and requires constant updating of the legal framework taking into account the processes of informatization and globalization.

Strengthening the innovativeness of the institutional support of the educational process should be based on the activation of a number of tools, namely:

1) the introduction of an effective system of knowledge assessment;

2) increasing control over the quality of education and professional training of teachers;

3) orientation of training on a practical result – employment;

4) the spread of the use of information and communication technologies in all educational institutions.

It should be noted that Ukraine has developed a plan to improve and adapt the national quality assurance system of higher education in accordance with the standards and norms of the European Quality Assurance Network, which relates to: internal quality assurance in the educational institution; external quality assurance of higher education; quality assurance in the activities of agencies / institutions for external quality assurance (National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, independent institutions for evaluation and quality assurance of higher education) (2020).

We believe that the current trend of democratization of public relations, including in the humanitarian sphere, requires drastic steps to internal modernization of both the quality system of education and public administration mechanisms, based on world experience.

Conclusions and prospects for further research

A comprehensive study of the theoretical and practical aspects of the innovative provision of public administration with the quality of educational services in the context of social transformations allowed us to reach the following conclusions:

1. Public administration of the quality of educational services can be defined as the activities of public administration, which is to establish, change or terminate the rights and obligations of participants in educational relations through the adoption of regulations, administrative acts, legally significant actions to meet the needs of the individual , society and state.
2. Modern institutional support of the process of providing educational services is in the process of reform, requiring innovative updating and improvement of the legal framework in this area, restructuring and transformation of educational relations at all levels, suggests that the education sector needs to strengthen the system of state influence through clear normative regulation of interrelations and interaction of subjects in this sphere.

Based on the analysis, it is established that the existing benefits and potential risks motivate public institutions to further implement innovative technologies and apply new tools to improve the quality management system with the involvement of European partners who have significant experience in this field.

Based on this, the prospect of further research is to study the experience of implementing new technologies for resource management in the field of education, adjusted for their transformation.

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