Secondary special education

Secondary special education [середня спеціяльна освіта; serednia spetsiialna osvita]. An educational program which gives vocational or semiprofessional training as well as basic secondary education. Secondary special education in the Ukrainian SSR was offered in schools under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education. Secondary special education can be obtained in some secondary schools offering training in over 400 occupations, in a tekhnikum, or in vocational-technical schools. Full-time day study for those with 8 years of schooling (see Eight-year school) is 3 or 4 years, and for those with completed secondary education (see Ten-year school) 2 or 3 years (an additional year for those enrolled in evening or part-time programs). Graduates of secondary special schools can apply to institutions of higher education. In 1988–9 there were 737 secondary special schools in Ukraine, with 792,400 students (of whom 320,000 studied in schools offering training in industrial or construction occupations). Of the total number of students 523,400 were in full-time day programs. In 1967, secondary special education faculties were organized by some of the larger institutions of higher learning. In 1985 there were 17 such faculties in Ukraine.

The origins of secondary special education go back to the prerevolutionary period (see Professional and vocational education). Secondary special education underwent a great expansion with industrialization. In 1914–15 there were 88 secondary special schools in Ukraine, with 88,000 students. By 1940–1 the figures were 693 and 196,300 respectively. In the 1950s secondary special schools started to attract young people with complete secondary education.

Bohdan Krawchenko

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]