ASSESSMENT OF CRITICAL IMBALANCES IN RESOURCE PROVISION FOR THE TRAINING OF HIGHER EDUCATION SPECIALISTS

Abstract

The article attempts to comprehensively examine the problem of latent imbalances in the provision of resources for training specialists in the higher education system of Ukraine, which, given the increasing financial turbulence, tends to deepen and take on threatening proportions. Particular attention is focused on identifying critical points of tension associated with the shortage of human, financial, material, technical and information resources observed within individual educational programmes. It is argued that traditional approaches to assessing the effectiveness of training do not take into account structural and functional distortions in the internal environment of higher education institutions, in particular, the uneven distribution of educational workload, imbalances in the student body, and the mismatch between the amount of funding and the real needs of ensuring the quality of education. The author proposes an analytical assessment tool in the form of a training resource shortage index, which allows identifying, recording and quantitatively describing the critical level of resource shortage at the level of an individual educational programme. A conceptual model of an indicator set has been developed, combining multidimensional assessment parameters such as: the ratio of funding to the minimum required level of expenditure, staffing, material and technical infrastructure, dynamics of enrolment, volumes of state orders, contract forms of training, etc. The methodology provides for the normalisation of indicators, their aggregation taking into account weighting coefficients, and the formation of a criticality scale. Based on a scenario approach, potential trajectories for the development of educational programmes were modelled for different values of the integral index, which made it possible to outline a number of strategic alternatives for management decisions: from the reorganisation of educational programmes to the optimisation of their financial architecture. The emphasis is on the need for institutional adaptation to dynamic changes in the funding structure and demographic landscape. The proposed approach can be integrated into the strategic planning systems of higher education institutions and contribute to strengthening their crisis resilience.