Problems of education policy implementation at the regional level

Problem setting. Nowadays, the main task of reforming education at the regional level is the searching for effective mechanisms of implementation, combining the interests of the community (population of a certain territory) in accordance with the priorities of the development of the region. The need to identify and understand the obstacles to reform, their factors and possible consequences, and determines the relevance of the article.

Recent research and publications analysis. The sources of this article are reports from education departments, comprehensive studies (reports) from international or national experts. Currently, research is conducted in the following areas:  problems of implementation of state-public education management and ways of their solution in Ukraine (N. Rashitova etc.); theoretical aspects of regional educational policy, problems of managerial character on the ground (V. Basiluk, T. Boychenko, L. Zabrodska etc.); policies and mechanisms, the implementation of which should contribute to reducing the gap in educational achievement of Ukrainian students (M. Mazorchuk, T. Vakulenko, V. Tereshchenko, G. Bychko, K. Shumova etc.)

Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem.  We need to search for individual and common tools to overcome obstacles in the reform of the educational sector, identify through the prism the causes and consequences of problems and possibilities for the development of regional education policy.

Paper main body.  In article is discovered the responsibility of the bodies of state administration of all levels, educational institutions, scientific institutions, bodies of public self-government, community, and educators for the development and implementation of regional education policy. The main issue is to work out optimal mechanisms for regional education policy and make as few mistakes as possible in implementing it. The importance of these issues is compounded by the increasing trend of decentralization and the development of local self-government in Ukraine.

The problem areas of the formation and implementation of regional education policy, decision making under uncertainty are considered.

The article discusses recommendations for the development of education in Ukraine, namely:

• recommendations for strategic decision-making to increase student / pupils education level, in particular by analyzing the experience of other countries;
• recommendations for further research to identify causes and factors that affect the quality of the educational process and the student/student success rate;
• recommendations on measures to inform society about the existence of certain problems in the field of national education and prospective ways of overcoming them.

Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Based on the findings of Ukrainian and international experts, the analysis of the reporting documentation of the structural units of the city councils responsible for the implementation of educational policy at the regional level, we can draw the following conclusions. The problems inherent in the implementation of regional education policy today can be combined in several directions: problems related to the formation of education policy at the regional level (special attention should be paid to changing the approaches, from the policy “report on fact” to the policy “cause-and-effect” relations); problems related to lack of resources and funding allocation mechanisms; problems with insufficient information support for reforms; problems of communication with participants of educational processes (educators, parents, pupils/students, administration of educational institutions, community, administrators, etc.), this can include the passivity of the community in the process of initiating and implementing changes; problems related to innovations in education; the difference in the quality of education, that depending on the place of education, socio-economic status of pupils/students, type of educational institution.

Education policy at the regional level further requires needs to explore of the causes of the large difference in educational achievement of education recipients who have similar indicators of socio-economic status; the impact of regional characteristics on the process of innovation implementation; “cause-and-effect” relationships in the preconditions for successful experience in managing educational institutions and management practices in specific of regions.