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Ігор Вишневський Around IT
9 December 2024, 09:00
2024-12-09
"Education is not for putting a bucket on a child's head and just pouring more of everything": the IT-people reflect on higher education for their children in Ukraine and abroad
Parents have different approaches to where their children will pursue higher education (and whether they will pursue it at all). Someone, from the height of their own life experience, allows themselves to decide for their children, someone just lightly «push» and prompt, and someone sends the offspring to «free swimming» and tries not to influence their choice. One way or another, the issue of higher education is actively discussed between parents and children when they reach adolescence. And some parents start thinking about it much earlier.
Therefore, within the framework of this material, parents from Aitiv were asked to share their thoughts on the topic of higher education — whether top Ukrainian universities remain the dream of technological youth, or whether their diplomas have turned into a formality, which they have long since stopped chasing.
Parents have different approaches to where their children will pursue higher education (and whether they will pursue it at all). Someone, from the height of their own life experience, allows themselves to decide for their children, someone just lightly «push» and prompt, and someone sends the offspring to «free swimming» and tries not to influence their choice. One way or another, the issue of higher education is actively discussed between parents and children when they reach adolescence. And some parents start thinking about it much earlier.
Therefore, within the framework of this material, parents from Aitiv were asked to share their thoughts on the topic of higher education — whether top Ukrainian universities remain the dream of technological youth, or whether their diplomas have turned into a formality, which they have long since stopped chasing.
A survey in our TG channel shows that 27% of its participants would still send their children to Ukrainian universities, and 22% are inclined to European universities. Only 4% of respondents would like (or could afford) their child to study in the USA. Quite a significant percentage was also gained by somewhat provocative answers that the dev.ua editors offered to readers — «anywhere, but in Ukraine» and «who needs a tower?» the main thing is to learn programming.» 20% and 15% of almost 600 voting participants voted for them, respectively. It is unlikely that the results of the survey on the TG channel should be considered guaranteed representative, but they clearly demonstrate what the citizens of Aitiv themselves expressed in their comments: there are many questions about domestic higher education, and some things in it need to be changed, but, nevertheless, it remains the main option despite all the existing «cons».
Parents from IT-sphere, with whom dev.ua spoke, clearly see these disadvantages, but, at the same time, most of them still lean in the direction of having their children study at Ukrainian universities. Foreign education also requires significant sacrifices and does not look like «manna from heaven» in their eyes, which will automatically pave the way for their children in the profession. Although here also a lot depends on whether the parents themselves remain in Ukraine or have temporarily or completely emigrated abroad.
«All technical skills break down very quickly at the moment when you can’t have a banal conversation with people»
Halyna, who holds the position of Agile Coach at Simcore, has three children. The eldest daughter will soon be 16 and, despite the fact that the family is currently in Poland, they are still thinking about Ukrainian higher education, although Galyna is far from idealizing studies in leading domestic universities. She herself, like her husband, graduated from KPI.
«It’s good for technical schools, if you sit down for programming. But now AI is very successful and replacing it very quickly. In Ukraine, these skills are trained — the school trains them excessively early, and it is also trained in universities. But he is trained without contact!», says Halyna.
Currently, she is involved in a project in the financial industry, this is a large system for investments with huge clients — banks and investment funds. So, using the example of her work, she emphasizes that the key is not only and not so much technical skills, but domain knowledge.
«If you just program like a monkey, you won’t get far! So, for example, the concept — programmer or product developer? Because a lot is invested in the definition of „product developer“: it includes knowledge of the domain, involvement, and understanding of the strategy of how to bring it all to life. I am already silent about all soft skills, that is, interaction, teamwork, because no one works individually for a long, long time! And all technical skills break very quickly at the moment when you can’t talk banally with people. I mean, why am I doing this? To the point that this is precisely what is sorely lacking in our universities!», the Agile Coach is convinced.
If we turn to the specifics, they and their daughter are considering the possibility of admission to UCU (Ukrainian Catholic University). «We see that education there is not designed to put a bucket on the child’s head and just pour in as much as possible,» Halyna jokingly explains. Mohylyanka and KSE are also possible options. «As for our educational giants, KPI and Shevchenko University, they can also be considered, but it will be a certain compromise,» adds she.
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Nevertheless, this issue is still far from a final solution, because there is still time for it: the daughter has to study in Poland for the next two years after the current year.
Team Lead Oleksandr Ovcharenko has four children and is currently also thinking about higher education for them. The eldest son from the first marriage is already an adult and is 23 years old, but in the second marriage Alexander has a 15-year-old boyfriend, another 13-year-old boyfriend and a 10-year-old daughter. «We are not kidding about future education,» he says, first of all, regarding his 15-year-old son, because they have more time to resolve the issue regarding the other children.
At the same time, Oleksandr Ovcharenko urges not to be too skeptical about Ukrainian education as such. «A person needs education in order to learn to learn. If education only provides ready-made work skills, it is a dead end. Education should teach a person: not to be afraid of a given task, to be able to break down a task into stages, to understand what is clear, what is not clear, what skills or knowledge are lacking, to be able to find what is missing (on the network, or to figure it out on your own), and to complete this task. Without giving up halfway and without being lazy. Or by quitting, realizing that there will be no profit from completing the task. But this is a question from a different plane,» he muses.
Team Lead notes: when they talk about applied work skills from education (not from monthly advanced training courses, but specifically from education), he immediately remembers Isaac Asimov’s novel «The Profession». «If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. There are good ideas in the context of the raised topic,» says the citizen of Aitiv. Now Oleksandr’s family is monitoring the options for their son, because they have not yet decided on a specific university where they will enter.
«Learning programming languages in junior or high school is nonsense»
We also touched on the topic of whether the IT-people would also like to see children in their profession, because in one way or another it is considered both prestigious and profitable in society. According to Oleksandr Ovcharenko, this social trend is already taking on somewhat inadequate forms.
«A significant number of people already choosing a school for the first grader ask questions like „do you have any computer literacy classes? I would like children to find themselves in IT.“ I actually heard it myself when I was looking for a school for my children. This is nonsense! They will have time to use a tablet, a phone and run Fortnite on a computer. To learn some programming languages in junior — middle school classes? By the time they finish school, and then the institute, they will already have other favorite programming languages,» says Ovcharenko.
Photo by Mind.ua
In the words of the team leader, IT has long since turned from the domain of a few scarce artists into a craft «in flux». «In another five years, salaries in IT will degrade, and it will cease to be a fairy tale of dreams when looking for a job. And in general, choosing a profession for children is a thankless task,» he says.
How much will future Ukrainians have to pay for studying at top Ukrainian universities: the cost starts at UAH 20,000, the highest at UCU — UAH 129,000
In solidarity with Oleksandr and Agile Coach from Simcore Galyna, who also does not consider an IT profession for her daughter to be a necessary measure of success.
«They often say, ``we will send our child to IT, and he will be happy and rich.'' But my husband and I share a common and agreed position — we just want the quality of education to be good. Because our young people are packed with academic content, but they forget about life skills. Choosing your path in life is not a one-time action, but a constant adaptation. And this trend of constant development and adaptation should be maintained,» she is convinced.
According to Galyna, her daughter is good at mathematical disciplines, but she and her husband are far from thinking that it is necessary to send their daughter to the technical field only on the basis of this. «From the beginning, our children study according to the principles of the Waldorf school. A child cannot learn only mathematics if he is good at it. She is a person and should be able to look at herself from different angles. We are guided by this principle both in life and in higher education,» she comments.
The key thing regarding higher education for their own children is that Halyna and her husband definitely have no intention of making a choice for their daughter. «She will make this choice herself. We don’t even have strong recommendations for this,» says the Agile Coach.
A similar position is expressed in a comment by dev.ua and Lead Product Designer Oleksandr Valyus. He wants children at this stage to demonstrate maximum independence in decision-making. «I am in favor of children leaving home at the age of 17 and learning to fend for themselves. Children should be brought up so that they themselves tell you where they want to go and get there. It’s my job to pay for it,» he joked.
«A combination of university education and additional courses can be an ideal option»
Senior Delivery Manager at Levi9, Natalya Dybchuk, is not the first to communicate with our publication on the topic of raising and educating children. Currently, she and her son are in Spain, so the Aitivite shared her thoughts on the possibility of obtaining a higher education in this (or another foreign) country. But there is still enough time for her son to enter the university — about five years, so she does not undertake to predict how things will actually turn out.
«We still live in a world where a higher education diploma is a desirable requirement, and even when looking for a job in IT, you often come across the question of your level of education — specialist, master’s or PhD. Therefore, I believe that it is still necessary to get a higher education, although I am convinced that the approach to education in the world will change significantly in the near future,» says the Senior Delivery Manager.
Natalya Dybchuk recalls that even before the full-scale invasion of Russia and the move, when they lived in Ukraine, she tried to speak to her child in English, because she was sure that it would become a tool for her son’s higher education abroad. Even if it was an online education, the Ayti woman considered it important that her son no longer learn English, but learn in English. After all, these are two completely different things.
Natalya Dybchuk with her son: photo provided by her
«Now we are in Spain and the focus has changed a bit. I still want him to learn English (although he is fluent in Spanish), but the language is not that popular here. Therefore, other countries may have to be considered, depending on financial capacity. Universities in Spain are not expensive, especially compared to Great Britain or the USA, but not without Spanish (and even without some regional languages, if we are talking about Barcelona or Valencia),» Nataliya Dybchuk explained the local realities.
In her opinion, education should be as practical as possible. The Senior Delivery Manager believes that if it is, for example, engineering, then 80% of training should be practice, because it is through practice that real specialists are formed.
«In this sense, various internship programs in international companies that invite students are a great start for a career and education. However, higher education is not only about knowledge. This is also socialization: friends, networking, the ability to solve problems, meet deadlines, negotiate with teachers. This is the development of soft skills, especially if the student will live in a dormitory or share an apartment with others,» adds Natalia Dybchuk.
At the same time, practical knowledge, which may not be obtained during lectures, can always be obtained through extracurricular activities, according to the aitivite. After all, according to her, today there are many intensive online courses that quickly prepare, for example, web designers or managers in various fields. «A combination of university education and additional courses can be an ideal option,» she believes.
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Olha Penkova, Senior Product Owner at MaxBill, is also abroad with her children. They live with their son and daughter (11 and 13 years old, respectively) in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Children attend primary and secondary school here. And although it is too early for them to think about the specifics of higher education, Olga shared her observations regarding the acquisition of a profession in this country.
«I can’t say anything about higher education in Northern Ireland yet, because I don’t have experience, I’m not yet an adult. But with regard to education in general, more attention is paid to „applied“ subjects (food&nutrition, art&design) and social activities (sports, music, church, etc.) than, say, to „technical“ subjects. Although „technical“ are mandatory for admission to higher education,» says Olga Penkova.
According to her, with regard to the trends in the labor market, there is a great shortage of «first» level workers: teachers, doctors, nurses, electrical industry workers, and so on.
«That’s how young people begin to be encouraged at the state level to think before entering higher education. Because the salary after it is the same as without it, but the loan for education (there is no free one) will be paid by the graduate for decades. Therefore, everywhere has its own nuances, you need to learn the details and try to choose the best option for your child,» Olga Penkova shared her experience in another country.
«The work that my children will choose, most likely, has not even been invented yet»
Lead Product Designer Oleksandr Valyus, who has two children of preschool age, doubts whether it is even worth voicing his thoughts on higher education, because it is a matter of a rather distant perspective. Nevertheless, his conclusions are set in a philosophical manner.
«In 10 years, the climate and the economic situation can change a lot. The work that my children will choose, most likely, has not even been invented yet,» he assessed the rapidity of trends in the modern world, in particular in relation to the IT industry.
In turn, Oleksandr Ovcharenko believes that the «schedules» in the future distribution of professions will be significantly adjusted by the influence of AI. And this influence, as now, is ambiguous, along with positives, having its «dark sides».
«From this begins the future crisis in education and finding one’s profession. Because the first thing that will be affected by the availability of AI is the basis that I stated at the very beginning — thinking about the problem that has arisen. Now everyone rushed to blame it on the AI and not bother. Well, if you don’t learn it, but ask AI for answers every time, then development stops. Considering that AI does not know how to say „I don’t know the answer to this question“, I am afraid that we will soon have a lot of disappointing consequences from its use in various spheres», — says he.
So what’s in the dry residue? The vision of representatives of the IT sphere can (and even should!) be quite diverse, but most of them agree on the obvious: Ukrainian higher education is somewhat biased in the direction of excessive academicism, and it is very lacking in pumping soft skills among its students. Meanwhile, precisely such skills will increasingly come to the fore under the conditions of the current pace of development and application of AI in the IT sphere. To people — human, and to technology — technical.
Nevertheless, despite all the (often well-deserved) criticism, Ukrainian universities still remain competitive, and their diploma is, if not a blue dream, then at least a basic element for further self-disclosure in the profession.
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