Kharkiv University of Humanities People's Ukrainian Academy

Rector- Kateryna Astahova

People's Ukrainian Academy is one of the first private higher educational establishments in Ukraine, an educational complex of a new type, providing a continuous education. Academy, founded in 1991, comprises three main educational stages:
- Children's School of Accelerated Development
The school prepares children aged 3-6 for a comprehensive school. It gives 1 - 2 classes a week, in accordance with intensive development curriculum. All kinds of plays are employed to give children the rudiments of foreign languages, speaking and reading practice, arts, music, ecology.
- Specialised School of Economics and Law with profound study of foreign languages
The school provides secondary education in accordance with the state programs, norms and requirements. The number of pupils in a form is no more than 16, which makes it possible to have a particular individual approach to each learner. Pupils are taught law and economics rudiments and foreign languages, according to the program of a specialised language school: English as the major foreign language, and a second foreign language: French, German or Spanish - as chosen.
- University of Humanities

The University comprises three major faculties, those of Business Administration, Translation and Interpreting, Social Management, and a subsidiary pre-high schooling faculty. The University also provides the instruction by correspondence and the postgraduate training.
Now the general number of learners at the Academy is about 2000. In 1997 the higher school graduated its first specialists, that got jobs at Kharkiv enterprises and institutions. In 1999 the first specialized school graduates entered the leading Kharkiv Universities, most of them continued their education at the Academy.

The educational complex project was worked out by a group of specialists headed by professor
V. I. Astakhova, now the rector of the Academy. The main objective is creating optimal conditions for a continuous education within the framework of one educational structure, an individual approach to each learner, training cultured highly qualified professionals, meeting international requirements and standards. The motto of the Academy is "Education-culture-professionalism". Providing conditions for bringing up a highly cultured person is the major strategic target of the whole Academy's activity.

The realisation of our concept caused the necessity of the three above mentioned educational stages, making a united module - People's Ukrainian Academy. The schools and the University of Humanities have common "through" departments, giving classes both to secondary school pupils and students, thus securing a continuity of education and doing away with the notorious gap between the secondary and higher school. The vertex of the three-stage continuous education pyramid is the University of Humanities training economists, linguists and social workers. After the eighth semester the students are conferred diplomas of bachelors; after the fifth year - diplomas of magistracy.

The main objective of all the stages of higher education is to secure the graduates competitiveness at the labour market by providing a high quality of general, fundamental and special training. To enhance graduates "stability" at the labour market the higher school curricula (authorised by the Ministry of Education) provide training specialists with double qualifications. Business administration faculty graduates get training in economics and law; interpreters, besides learning three European languages, study office work, computing, stenography, which make it possible for graduates to work as office managers. Social Management faculty students find themselves in a rather complicated situation. Social management is an entirely new professional area in Ukraine. So the faculty curriculum undergoes changes depending upon the juncture. The two first enrolment students were conferred diplomas of a junior specialist with the qualification "social sciences teacher". The two subsequent started training as social workers. In future we plan to train students for another qualification: "human resources manager".

The Academy staff includes the Human Service (comprising psychological, aesthetic, ecological, sociological services and the Institute of family doctoring) which do not just solve their professional problems, but also promote the humanitarization of education at all its stages and improve the learners' general cultural level.

Our students are involved in research carried out by the staff of the Academy. We regularly hold scientific conferences, international inclusive. For the last three years we held large conferences on the problems of private education, family and society under crisis conditions, students' social security, educational work in private schools, etc. Each April we hold student scientific conferences which, since 1997, have been attended by guest participants from Russia, Bulgaria and Poland. Collections of conference papers are regularly published.

Training specialists ready to meet requirements of today is impossible without stable multilateral international ties. Our teachers and students take short-term courses in foreign countries. Academy has made an agreements of co-operation with First Independent University in Poland, Sofia University of world and national economy (Bulgaria), St. Norbert's College (USA), Jonkoping International Business School (Sweden) etc., has become a member of a number of international educational associations and organisations. E. V. Astakhova, the first pro-rector of the Academy is a member of European Association of International Education (EAIE) and the permanent participant of the EAIE annual conferences. Academy co-operates with the ACTR-ACCELS (American Council of Teachers of Russian and Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study), IREX (International Research & Exchange Board), the International Renaissance Foundation, the Eurasia Foundation, TASIS program and others.