Text 5. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

By Serhiy KHARCHENKO

Personally, I always admired patronage of art and literature as a phenomenon practically forgotten in Soviet times. Imagine a rich lady of the manor with a name difficult to pronounce – Halshka Hulevychyvna. In 1615 she contributed «land parcels with build­ings» to the Kyiv fraternal society (public organization) with the aim to «build school for children of the poor and middle class petty bourgeois in Kyiv. Fortunately, the present passed into the reliable hands of the Kyiv metropolitan Petro Mohyla who founded there a college. Shortly, the college acquired state certification. The institution was named after its founder – Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

According to the historical documents, teaching in the Academy was on a level with the highest European educational standards. Professors of the Academy were the first in Ukraine who introduced classical history instead of compiling chronicles. Graduates of the Academy had the best command of the Latin language, rhetoric, logic, philosophy and theology. At that time, few universities gave lectures on linguistics or theory of literature.

Copies of «The Teacher’s Gospel» published in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy were sold to the English and French royal libraries. Graduates of the Academy were invited to teach to a number of European countries. In particular, historical documents keep the names of the educational centres situated in Krakow and Kiel where successfully worked the best students of the Academy.

In 1725 German scientists and their Ukrainian col­leagues gathered for a round-table meeting in the conference hall for festive occasions in the established Russian Academy of Sciences. It was the first meeting of academicians in St. Petersburg, the then capital of the Russian Empire. Mykhaylo Lomonosov, the Russian academician joined them in 1734. He laid down the foundations of many trends in Russian culture and science beginning from poetry to chemistry. In 1755 Lomonosov founded Moscow University.

In the meantime, teachers of the Kyiv Academy continued to graduate Russian elite. Many Russian court people, prominent scientists, compositors and artists graduated from the Academy. Most of them were ethnical Ukrainians.

At the end of the 17^th century, under the pressure of the Russian Empire, teaching in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was conducted only in Russian. Lectures in Ukrainian as well as philosophy, history and architecture were strictly prohibited

Following the opening of the St. Petersburg Imperial University, the freedom-loving traditions of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy were no longer called for by the new educational system. The Academy was closed. In fact, it evidenced the break in developing the country’s intellectual potential for more than two hundred years. The Kyiv University with its historical, philological, physical-mathematical and medical departments opened in 1834 could not fill in the gaps in education of Ukrainians as it functioned under the conditions of severe censorship.

Ukraine witnessed «university boom» twice. The first one occurred in Soviet times when university-twins appeared in the country one after another for seventy years in every regional center. Nevertheless, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was not re-established, as its freedom-loving traditions were alien to the Soviet system.

Nowadays, private colleges and universities aim to be distinguished by originality and meet the competition. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was reestablished in 1991, the year when Ukraine formally declared its independence. Now the Academy has a status as the national university. Nonetheless, the staff of the Academy is free to introduce new and original tendencies. When I found out that the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy cooperates with fifty universities from various countries and attracts famous consultants from the USA, Canada, Germany and Sweden, I realized that its teachers broke with the reigning routine and formalities. Otherwise, they could no longer be interesting for their foreign colleagues.

When I talk about the Academy or hear someone expressing his views about this institution, I often hear the word «unique». Unique tests, unique and healthy competition, unique teaching methods, unique staff and intelligent students. Soon the Academy is going to introduce one more novelty namely public analyses of the entrants» works. At the end, computers will show the names of the new students.

Soviet students dreamed about the so-called «red diplomas» with excellent marks. At present, three thousand students and five hundred teachers of the KMA stress the necessity to apply knowledge in practice. Student associations, clubs and hundreds of enthusiasts learn to make decisions independently.

Teaching staff of the KMA was the first among Ukrainian universities that introduced creative system of education. This system enables students to change faculties in the process of learning. Some universities in Northern America have the same educational system.

So far heads of the Academy have no reasons to complain: the educational program of the Academy meets international educational standards and is adapted to the Ukrainian system of education. Thankfully, the state does not interfere with the educational process. Students participate in researching poverty issues and political opinions of the Ukrainian community. Students of the Academy can choose to learn English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Arabian, Turkish and Slavonic languages. Besides, the KMA students fluently speak Ukrainian.

I graduated from my university in the 50s and worked as assigned by the state, got the same salary as many of my colleagues. Now I admire today’s youth, their desire to compete. In the past, such desires were considered either as sins or careerism. I wish that in about fifteen years well educated Ukrainians will become decent citizens of their decent country. Hopefully, graduates of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy will be among them.

♦ ♦ ♦