Specialised secondary education using distance-learning format. Is it feasible?

«Distance-learning specialised education: legally – yes; effectively – depending on the approaches used»

The reform of specialised secondary education in Ukraine involves the establishment of a network of academic lyceums, which provide education at the third level of comprehensive secondary education with compulsory specialisation (profiling). In this context, local governments face a practical question: can distance learning be considered an alternative to establishing a capable academic lyceum?

In view of current legislation and the practice of implementing the reform, distance learning is permissible; however, in most cases, there is a likelihood that it will not be able to ensure the appropriate quality of specialised secondary education.

In compliance with Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, education may be delivered in different formats, including institutional (in-person, correspondence, distance-learning), individual (external, home-based, educational support) and dual. Thus, distance learning is legally recognised and permissible for the organisation of the educational process, including at the level of specialised secondary education.

At the same time, legislation in comprehensive general secondary education sets out requirements not only for the format of education but also for academic performance. This concerns ensuring specialisation, the possibility of choosing educational trajectories, and the achievement by students of academic performance in conformity with state standards.

A key challenge in this context is the risk of formalising specialised education. In practice, an educational institution may claim to offer a specialised programme without providing the necessary staffing, material and technical resources, or methodological support. In a distance-learning format, these limitations are exacerbated, particularly due to the difficulties in organising laboratory work, practical activities, and project-based learning.

As a result, the formal existence of senior secondary school is maintained, but the quality of specialised education is not guaranteed, which directly affects the academic performance of students and their future educational and professional trajectories.

Distance learning may be regarded as a justifiable solution only in the context of safety restrictions. In other cases, its use does not allow the objectives of specialised secondary education to be fully achieved. Another challenge is the preservation of academic progress: quite often, all current assessment and teaching activities in a distance-learning school are stored on the principal’s (or deputy principal’s) laptop – which inevitably increases the risk of losing all materials in the event of equipment failure. Along with this, the licensing terms do not currently include any requirements for the mandatory use of servers (owned by the school or community) or cloud technologies (with long-term data storage) in distance or blended learning.

Apart from this, the government provides for the possibility of supporting distance-learning lyceums, in particular through funding under the New Ukrainian School reform. However, such resources are primarily directed at tools – computer equipment, software, electronic educational resources, including virtual laboratories and simulations – which partially compensate for the lack of practical experience but cannot replace the real-life experimental activities of students.

Thus, the distance learning format is a legally permissible, yet only limitedly effective, model for organising specialised secondary education.

For local governments, this means that strategic decisions have to be made on the basis of actual capacity, rather than merely maintaining the network of educational institutions for the sake of formality.

Objective assessment of the demographic situation, staffing capacity, and material and technical resources is key, as is the ability to provide at least three study profiles, in accordance with the legal requirements for academic lyceums.

If a community lacks sufficient numbers of students, teaching staff, material and technical resources, or safe learning conditions (particularly bomb shelters), there is no reason to preserve the senior school merely for the sake of formality – it is more sensible to ensure access to quality specialised education through a capable lyceum or through cooperation with other communities.

If distance learning format is used for safety reasons, it is important to plan in parallel for a return to in-person or blended learning, including infrastructure development, organising student transportation and establishing partnerships with educational institutions.

Therefore, the strategic priority for communities should remain the development of a capable network of lyceums with in-person or blended learning formats, which provide quality specialised education in compliance with the requirements of the law. Distance learning may only be used as a temporary solution in the context of safety considerations, but not as the basic model for organising specialised secondary education. The relevant management decisions should be taken with a view to the long-term quality of education, rather than the short-term preservation of the existing network of institutions.

The DECIDE project is implemented by NGO DOCCU and PHZH International Projects in Education with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine.