On January 29, Ukraine commemorates the events that took place at the end of January 1918, when the young defenders of the Ukrainian People’s Republic stopped the Bolshevik army’s offensive at the cost of their own lives.

 

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks in Russia in November 1917 posed a threat to Ukraine. They sought to establish control over our country. Finally, in January 1918, the Bolsheviks declared a general offensive against Ukraine.

 

On this day in 1918, at the Kruty railway station in the Chernihiv region, about 300 students entered into battle against an army of six thousand Bolsheviks. Many students were killed in the unequal battle, but the Ukrainian resistance delayed the Russian offensive on Kyiv.

 

The battle at Kruty was not mentioned for a long time. Only during the years of independence in Ukraine did they start talking about the courageous feat of the students. At the state level, the memory of the heroes of the battle began to be honored in 2004.

 

In 2006, the Kruty Heroes Memorial was unveiled at the scene of the events. To mark the 80th anniversary of the events at Kruty, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin. Events in honor of the heroes, people’s councils and reconstructions of the battle are held in different cities of Ukraine.

 

The tragic death of the students at Kruty became a symbol of patriotism and sacrifice in the struggle for independent Ukraine.

 

The first online course about Ukraine in English “Ukraine: History, Culture, and Identities” has been launched. It was developed by the Ukrainian Institute, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and EdEra online education studio.

 

The course will help one gain basic knowledge about Ukrainian history and culture, reveal the role of Ukraine in European and world history. It will be interesting for foreign students studying in Ukraine, potential applicants, and anyone who wants to learn more about Ukraine.

 

Tuition for the course “Ukraine: History, Culture, and Identities” is free. Register at the Udemy link: https://www.udemy.com/course/ukraine-history-culture-and-identities/

 

The online course “Ukraine: History, Culture and Identities” consists of 5 modules:

• – Independent Ukraine
• – Kyivan Rus’ in Middle Ages
• – Ukrainian lands in the Early Modern Age
• – Ukraine in the long 19^th century
• – Ukraine in the 20^th century

 

You can learn more about the course from the organizers, as well as ask them your questions during the online presentation of the course – January 28 at 16:00 on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian Institute: https://www.facebook.com/UkrainianInstitute

 

Every year on January 26th, India celebrates one of the most important national holidays – Republic Day.

 

In 1950, the country adopted the📜 Constitution for all its states and established a sovereign democratic status.

 

The largest number of foreign students come to Ukraine from India. So we sincerely congratulate all our students from India on the national holiday – Republic Day!

 

We wish you good health, success in your studies, and may student life be full of interesting events and victories. 👍🏻👍🏻🚀

The awarding of diplomas is a festive and solemn event always. On December 31, 2020, the West Ukrainian National University (classic university of Ternopil) hand over master’s diplomas to students of the Bohdan Havrylyshyn Education and Research Institute of International Relations. During their studies, the students became a part of institute family, and now they will join the Alamni community of the institute.

In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly declared January 24th International Day of Education to celebrate the role of education for peace and development.

By adopting the 2030 Agenda, the world community has recognized that education is a key factor in achieving all 17 sustainable development goals. And Goal 4, in particular, provides for the provision of comprehensive and equitable quality education, the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.

This year’s International Day of Education takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the educational process around the world.

According to the United Nations, the closure of schools, universities and other educational institutions has affected 1.6 billion people in more than 190 countries.

The United Nations calls for cooperation and international solidarity to ensure that education and lifelong learning are central to the process of rebuilding and transforming into more inclusive, safe and sustainable societies.

We also remind that, earlier, “Study in Ukraine” published a piece on what world’s universities think about the recruitment of foreign students in 2021.

Today, one of the most important state holidays is celebrated in Ukraine, the role of which in the history of the country is difficult to overestimate – the Ukrainian Unity Day.

 

Every year on this day an important historical event is celebrated, which took place on January 22^nd, 1919 at Sofia Square in Kyiv – the proclamation of the Unification Act of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic.

 

Ukrainian lands, which were part of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires after the defeat of the Cossack state, for the first time in centuries, had a real chance to break free and build an independent Ukrainian state during the First World War in 1914-1918. With the tsarist rule overthrown in Russia, the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR) was established with its capital in Kiev in November 1917. And with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the formation of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (WUPR) was proclaimed in Lviv on November 1^st, 1918. In January 1919, the two republics united into a single independent state, the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

 

The Unity Day was first celebrated at the state level in 1999. The holiday invoked to testify to the consolidation and steadfastness of the Ukrainian people, the unity of the citizens of Ukraine living in its various regions.

 

The symbol of the holiday is the “living chain”, where people, holding hands, form a chain to unite Ukraine and prove its invincibility. The tradition originated in 1990: at that time about three million people lined up between Kyiv and Lviv. It was one of the largest such events in Central and Eastern Europe.

 

The Ukrainian Unity Day is a day that symbolizes the unity of Ukrainian lands. It is one of the most important holidays of our country, which emphasizes that we are all one people and no barriers can divide us. Every year it acquires more symbolism, as right now we need to unite more than ever for the sake of the future, and for the sake of an independent, free Ukraine.

 

Congratulations to all Ukrainians on the Unity Day!

 

 

Baptism of God is the third and final great holiday of the Christmas and New Year cycle, commonly known as Jordan or Vodokhreshche.

 

Baptism of God is associated with the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River. When Jesus Christ reached the age of 30, he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

 

The main symbol of Vodokhreshche is water. The main traditions and rituals are connected with it on this day. It is believed that on January 19^th it has a special healing power. That is why water consecration takes place on the Vodokhreshche in all temples. This is necessary so that it can be taken home by people, many of whom go to church in the morning. This water can be drunk, sprinkled around the house, etc. Consecrated water on Holy Evening and Vodokhreshche is considered holy and healing. Consecrated water is stored throughout the year.

 

Another integral tradition of Vodokhreshche is bathing in water bodies that were previously consecrated by a priest. It is done during any weather – even in severe cold.

 

January 18^th marks the “Hungry Kutia” or the Second Christmas Eve, when the faithful go to the temple to consecrate water and fast till the first star. Traditionally, the family sits down at the table at the appearance of the first star. Among the dishes – kutia, varenyky, borscht, pampushky, mushrooms.

Until January 18^th, people traditionally clean the house and throw out the trash, which is symbolic, because Vodokhreshche is a holiday of purification from all dirt.

 

One of the rites this evening is shchedruvannia – Ukrainian songs with congratulations on the holidays.

 

Congratulations to all who celebrate this bright holiday! We wish you spiritual growth, love, good health, wisdom, peace and tranquility!

 

 

One of the areas that have been significantly impacted by the coronavirus crisis is student mobility and international student recruitment. The prospects for university enrollment of students in 2021 are outlined in the report of the British rating agency QS Quacquarelli Symonds “Hope for the Future: How Universities are Identifying Emerging Opportunities in 2021” https://info.qs.com/rs/335-VIN-535/images/Hope-for-the-Future-How-Universities-are-Identifying-Emerging-Opportunities-in-2021.pdf

Thus, according to the study conducted by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, higher education professionals will seek to boost their recruitment prospects while adhering to shifting governmental guidance and strict safety controls in 2021.

Higher education professionals feel cautiously optimistic about international student recruitment. When asked how they feel about their international recruitment prospects for the year ahead, many respondents were either very (7%) or somewhat optimistic (38%), with just under a third feeling neutral (29%). This reiterates the notion that there is a feeling of cautious optimism for many universities worldwide as they plan ahead for their recruitment cycles in 2021.

Source: Hope for the Future: How Universities are Identifying Emerging Opportunities in 2021 report.

A significant minority were somewhat pessimistic (19%), while only a few respondents were very pessimistic (8%).

To widen their recruitment scope, surveyed higher education professionals were asked whether their institution is seeking to diversify its source countries. More than half are seeking to diversity their source countries for international student recruitment, 21% are unsure, 17% are considering the move, and only 11% are opposed to the idea.

Source: Hope for the Future: How Universities are Identifying Emerging Opportunities in 2021 report.

This demonstrates that the majority of institutions are open to diversifying their student recruitment source countries in 2021, which may alleviate gaps in the market caused by coronavirus restrictions.

When asked how governments can help institutions and encourage international students to study in their country, respondents chose a range of measures. The most popular option was making it easier for students to obtain a student visa (56%), followed by establishing travel corridors with as many countries as they can (48%) and extending the length of time they can remain on post-study work visas (44%).

Another popular measure was setting up more scholarships for international students (44%), which clearly aligns with the priorities of prospective international students as shown in previous QS coronavirus reporting.

Less popular measures were ensuring they are not subject to quarantine measures when they arrive in the country (21%) and making it easier to become a permanent resident (18%).

Source: Hope for the Future: How Universities are Identifying Emerging Opportunities in 2021 report.

How did universities see recruitment shift in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis?

Overall, we can see that international student recruitment was significantly impacted by the coronavirus crisis. 30% of respondents stated that they had recruited significantly less than expected, while 29% recruited slightly less and 27% recruited as many international students as they expected.

Only 6% saw significantly more international students than expected, and 9% saw slightly more.

Source: Hope for the Future: How Universities are Identifying Emerging Opportunities in 2021 report.

Given the widespread and devastating nature of the coronavirus crisis, the fact that 27% of respondents saw their expected levels of recruitment, and a combined 15% saw more than expected, is a promising indication of the strength of the international student market.

For those respondents who stated that they had recruited fewer international students than expected, they pointed to a range of reasons why this may have been the case.

The most prevalent reasons for reduced recruitment of foreign students:

• – Fear of travel (60%)
• – Inability to travel to their country (58%),
• – Reluctance to study online (43%)
• – Postponement of studies until the next academic year (43%)

Interestingly, only 16% of surveyed higher education professionals believed that international students wanted to go to countries which had responded better to the coronavirus crisis than their country. In a follow-up question, respondents were asked to speculate what proportion of their prospective international students they think they lost to other countries who handled the crisis better.

In line with the previous insights, 26% of respondents stated that 11-20% of their prospective international students may have been lost to other countries.

A significant minority (13%) chose 71-80% and 81-90%, indicating that a portion of institutions believe that a large percentage of their prospective international students chose to study in other countries.

Another element that had to change because of the coronavirus crisis was the ability to conduct English-language testing. With in-person testing no longer an option due to social distancing restrictions, many institutions chose to waive these requirements or use language applications like Duolingo to test for language proficiency, with 18% of respondents admitting international students without completed language tests.

What incentives are universities offering to encourage admissions?

One step that some institutions took was to offer tuition fee discounts.

When asked whether their institution had offered any discounts to international students, 25% of surveyed higher education professionals said that they had, 45% said they had not, and 30% were unsure.

Respondents were also asked to reveal whether they were considering discounting tuition fees for new international students if they were to start their studies online, with 29% stating that they were considering it, 44% saying that they were not, and 28% unsure.

 
We would like to remind that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced a website about Ukraine for foreigners, which aims to promote studying, investing and traveling in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented the website UKRAINE.UA – a digital portal about modern Ukraine for foreign audiences.

Ukrainian State Center for International Education, in particular, joined the work on this project.

“Foreigners will be able to get acquainted with Ukraine online, take an interest in it and later visit, invest or come to study in our country” – said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.

The website consists of three sections:

• “Explore” – on the tourist potential of Ukraine and the most popular tourist attractions and routes;
• “Invest” – on the opportunities and benefits of investing;
• “Study” – on the studying opportunities in Ukrainian universities.

The UKRAINE.UA website is developed in the style of the unified Ukrainian brand UkraineNOW. It is currently only available in English, but throughout 2021 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to launch French, German, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese versions of the website.

In the evening of January 13th, on New Year’s Eve by the old style, Ukrainians traditionally celebrate Generous Evening or Malanka.

The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year is associated with the discrepancy between two calendars: the Julian (“old style”) and the Gregorian (“new style”).

The evening from January 13th to 14th is called Generous. As on Christmas Eve, a festive dinner is prepared on January 13th, which is also called “generous”. It is believed that the more dishes there are on the table, the happier the next year will be.

And since today is a New Year’s holiday, it is a good opportunity to review plans and goals for next year.

Among our plans is to do everything possible to make sure that:

Ukrainian higher education is known all over the world

foreign students studying in Ukrainian universities receive high quality education

admission to universities is transparent and digitalized

Ukraine is competitive in the international market of educational services

So let our designs and plans during these holidays come to pass and become a reality

Making #studyinukraine better