Private Lessons as an Instrument for Middle Class Status Struggle in Post-socialist Societies: Poland and Ukraine Case Studies

Abstract

IntroductionPrivate lessons in the subjects included in national curriculum are very popular almost all over the world (Bray, 1999, 2012; Southgate, 2009; Zhang, 2013; Jokic, 2013). The researchers of this subject matter claim that in post-communist societies undergoing transformation thanks to private education the societies found it easier to adapt to capitalist economy which is new to them (Silova & Bray, 2006; Silova & Eklow, 2013, p. 393). The rise of capitalism, the coming to meritocracy society and middle class in this part of the region resulted in transformation of education into market-oriented economy sector. In a short time, private education (mainly higher) emerged and the indices of scholarisation on secondary and tertiary level have increased significantly. The gross index of scholarisation for secondary education was 108,8 for secondary schools and 71,5 for universities in 2012/2013. In Ukraine the index was 98,9 for secondary schools and 79,0 for universities (International Statistics Yearbook 2015, 2015).After the transformation of the system in Poland, the number of students increased fourfold, from 403 824 in 1990 to 1 953 832 in 2005 and since then it started decreasing - in 2014 it was 1 469 386. In Ukraine the increase was not that significant. In 1990 the number of students of 1st to 4th level of accreditation was 1638 thousand, whereas in 2008 it was 2813 thousand students. On the one hand, educational boom resulted in rising of a new middle class, the main capital of which was knowledge and professional competences. On the other hand, the number of university graduates increasing in the following years with little need for such specialists caused the inflation of diplomas. This may be shown by the unemployment rate among people with higher education, which in Poland was 3,3% in 2000 and 16,2% in 2013. In Ukraine the unemployment rate among people with higher education was 33,3% in 2000 and 47,1% in 2013 (International Statistics Yearbook 2015, 2015).The devaluation of diplomas forced newly created middle classes intensify their educational investments. This situation was actually observed in many other countries before arising in our region (Dore, 1976; Collins, 1979; Bourdieu, 2005; Bourdieu & Passeron, 2006).In the circumstances of education reforms and progressive egalitarisation, the competition for more desired class positions became stronger (Boudon, 2008; Goldthorpe, 2012, p. 332). The individuals of more favourable social origin activate their resources in order to improve their chances to maintain their class status, that is avoiding degradation.In the post-Soviet age, in Ukraine expansion of higher education to become massive was observed. Its division into massive and exclusive took place later on. Transforming higher education into market-oriented economy and the lack of selection of students lowered the quality of university-level education. According to the research, 5-30% of university graduates are employed in the field related to their diploma (Oliinyk, 2013).The volumes of student emigration from Ukraine to other countries is also indicative of education inflation and low quality of studies. In the recent years, the number of students leaving Ukraine has been constantly increasing.In 2015 the number was 53 000. In 2013, 15 123 people from Ukraine came to Poland, whereas in 2014 it was 23 392. Students leave Poland as well. In 2014 their number was around 48 000, the destination was mainly the UK. Ukrainian students studying in Poland, in the qualitative research, when asked about motivation for choosing a foreign university, most often (out of 15 proposed answers) indicated that they want to have a diploma of a foreign university (75%), want to see the world (64%), there is no corruption and there is no need to pay lecturers for credits and exams (57%), it is easier to find a job and make a career (53%), there is a better quality of education (51%). …