This event, held in Sumy, was initiated by Volodymyr Polokhalo, Committee Chairman, and covered the Sumy Region. Taking part in the Round Table were P. Kachur, Head of the Sumy Regional Administration, Rectors of Higher Educational Institutions, School Directors, Delegates from State District Administrations and Centres for External Education Quality Testing.
Volodmyr Polokhalo noted in his speech that the transferral to extensive External Independent knowledge testing arouses many questions from teachers, parents and school-leavers.
The matter of provision of a legislative framework for External Education Quality Testing should be urgently resolved. Many of its components are not regulated by current legislative acts and regulations.
In his opinion, a holistic separate law should be adopted on External Independent Testing, or corresponding amendments made to the Laws, ‘On Education´, ‘On Higher Education´, ‘On General Secondary Education´, and Regulations, such as, ‘Guidelines for Moving up and the Graduation of Pupils in General Secondary Education Institutions of all types´, ‘Regulations on the Gold Medal, ‘For High Achievement in Studies´, and the Silver Medal, ‘For Achievements in Studies´; and ‘Regulation on the State Final Certification of Pupils in the General Secondary Education system.
It was emphasized that amendments and additions to the Code of Ukraine, ‘On Administrative Offences´, and the Criminal Code are necessary to prevent violations of the procedures for External Independent Testing, and publicizing the content of test papers.
Volodymyr Polokhalo alerted the audience to the possible impact of this introduction of overall Independent External Testing on education by correspondence courses ("in service education"), as those individuals having work experience, who left school several years ago, cannot possess the same degree of knowledge of the school curriculum as this year's school-leavers.
The Chairman emphasized the need for a campaign to promote a much greater awareness of External Testing in the central media. The organisation responsible for the testing in 2008 should receive 100% funding.
Members of the Round Table drew attention to the necessity for setting up Regional Centres in each region for testing the quality of education, and the timely provision of informational materials and manuals for school-leavers of 2007/08 and those of previous years.
They also stressed the requirement to use discretion and a degree of compromise through various choices, to preserve the ideology of transferral to external testing, and at the same time allowing for its gradual implementation.
Testing shall be obligatory for all 2008 school leavers, irrespective of their type of education (full-time or correspondence) and financing sources, whereas previous years' school leavers should have available the entrance technology from the year before. In 2009, obligatory testing must be applied to all 2009 school leavers, and so on. In 2008, obligatory external testing should only be applicable to those entrants who receive full-time education paid from the Budget funds.