Anti-rating of specialities-2024: people in Ukraine do not want to study chemistry even for free
19 August 2024 19:42
ANALYSIS FROM 
This year’s admission campaign is coming to an end. Psychology has become the most popular speciality among applicants in 2024. Future students avoided a number of other important professions for the country. Young people are least interested in “Information Security Management” in the field of “Military Sciences” and for some reason, budget places for the speciality “102 Chemistry” remained free. According to the website Vstup.OSVITA.UA, as of 16 August, 765 applications for Chemistry were submitted to educational institutions across the country this year. After the selection and review of candidates, only 244 students were enrolled. Although the full completion of the 2024 admission campaign will take place on 31 October, as well as enrolment for contractual education, the rating of specialities is already clearly emerging.
Enrolment of state-funded applicants lasted until 10 August 2024, while contract students are accepted until October. However, the rating of the most popular specialities among applicants has already been formed. For the first time, Psychology topped the list with 47,672 applications. While Law, which has traditionally held a leading position, did not even make the top five this year, taking sixth place.
According to Education.ua, the top ten most popular majors in 2024 are as follows:
- “Psychology”
- “Management
- “Philology
- “Computer Science
- “Marketing
- “Law
- “Software engineering
- “Secondary education
- “Economics
- “Cybersecurity and Information Protection”
The anti-rating was headed by such specialities as Information Security Management in the field of Military Sciences, National Security, State Border Security (12 applications), Religious Studies (62), Educational Sciences (75), Public Health (163), and Shipbuilding (217 applications).
We were also surprised by the free budget places for the speciality “Chemistry”. After all, it is included in the list of specialities that have special support from the state. By designating these specialities as important for the country and society, the state motivates applicants to enter these specialities by increasing their competitive scores.
For example, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv enrolled 65 students on the state budget at the Faculty of Chemistry on , while the maximum state order was 97 (excluding places with quotas 1 and 2).
The situation is the same at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Only 28 out of 60 state-funded places have been filled.
At V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, only 13 students were selected for 94 state orders (including quotas 1 and 2). Of course, the impact of the war on students’ willingness to apply to certain universities is also significant.
At the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, exclusively for
“On the one hand, back when the chemical industry was shrinking, there was a cooled interest in this subject. On the other hand, those students who were aiming for the sciences saw poor prospects in Ukraine. This included both laboratory equipment and employment prospects. So, they wanted to study in the West,” Mykola Skyba, expert in education at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future
Skiba adds that in Ukraine, there are few prospects for researching science itself, and the material and technical base of those who understand the value of this subject is weak.
Another component is role models. In chemistry, there was no phenomenon or person who could be seen as a reference point, model or example, adds the expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future. Chemistry is a routine, unlike physics, which has a certain philosophy and romanticism.
“One less obvious factor is the quality of chemistry teaching and equipment. And here is the question: how to get people interested? To renew interest, we need modern laboratories and the ability to conduct experiments. Museums of science that would focus on shows and entertainment began to emerge rather late,” Mykola Skyba
The Ukrainian Institute of the Future is confident that the situation is gradually changing, despite the fact that there are geographical problems. Few people apply to Ukrainian universities, and the number of applicants has decreased by a third since the start of the full-scale invasion, Skiba notes.
How to increase interest in chemistry
It is necessary to invest more in the promotion of science, which is a whole complex, says the expert of the Education Department of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future think tank.
“We need people who know how to popularise, scientists who can be bloggers, write popular books” – Mykola Skyba
Moreover, pharmaceutical companies should be interested in increasing the number of students because they need chemists. As well as companies that produce fertilisers and additives for the agricultural sector, says Skiba. “They have a task to go to school and create inter-school hubs to get them interested. And there are already such examples today.
Hlib Repich, the most famous chemist in Ukraine, PhD in Chemistry, science populariser and millionaire blogger, shares his experience of how he manages to popularise science for modern youthexclusively for .
“I’ve been promoting science for a long time, holding various events together with the Academy of Sciences. We showed children interesting experiments and told them why we were doing it. Today’s young people are quite pragmatic. They look at what to do through the prism of what will bring them success,” Gleb Repich
Young people are focused on success
Young people look up to successful people, and there are no chemists among them, in Ukraine in particular, says Repich.
Another problem is the low level of education at school. The well-known chemist says that education is the lowest-paid sector in Ukraine, with low salaries and, consequently, a teacher’s social status.
“The teachers who are at school and can theoretically teach are not the ones that students want to be like, but rather those whom they would not want to imitate,” Hlib Repich
Yes, you can earn money for bread and butter in chemistry, but you have to work hard, says Repich. While in other professions you can work less and earn more, chemistry is not an easy profession. It’s too difficult, and young people will never go for it, the PhD in Chemistry is sure.
“Most parents and children understand that such professions as chemistry and physics will not bring success, and they try to choose those specialities where they would earn more. For example, a psychologist charges 2,000 hryvnias for a session. It is clear that everyone will want to become a psychologist,” says Hlib Repich
The PhD in Chemistry is convinced that state programmes should be implemented, something like what Lee Kuan Yew did in Singapore. After all, the famous statesman, one of the creators of Singapore’s “economic miracle”, built a whole course to make his country an island of high-tech industry. And it is sophisticated technologies and techniques that can bear the most fruit, says Repich. And the main thing is government support.
Although Hlib Repich noted in the conversation that popularising science is not entirely a blogger issue, the scientist himself makes a huge contribution to the development of science and the involvement of young people in it. On Tik-Tok alone, he has more than a million young audience members. This means that he is a role model.
Author – Anastasiia Fedor
