We, the team of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA), are extremely grateful to all educators, scientists, colleagues and friends of the civilized world who undeniably support us in the ruthless and cruel times of the genocide against the Ukrainian people.
More than 5 months have passed since the first appeal to the international community in March. Every day, russian troops destroy our cities and villages, destroy the infrastructure, torture civilians and hold unprecedented trials against our defenders. Our fellow citizens, colleagues and students in the occupation are currently in real captivity. Where they feel physically and morally the uncertainty, when it will happen to become the next victim of an insolent from permissiveness rashist. They came to our land to rape, destroy, raze all Ukrainian to the ground, slander our symbols and faith. And if we ask You: “What is the most precious thing in the world?”, without even knowing the answer, we can claim, that the rashists are already ruining it.
The full-scale invasion of the russian federation united educators even more. Despite the fact that representatives of the institutions boards and applicants are kidnapped, lecturers are persecuted and, of course, every educator, like every Ukrainian, is under a 24-hour threat of death, they continue to work conscientiously. Despite the explosions and air raid alarms, academic staff from the occupied territories join the events organized by NAQA and complete the necessary papers. Moreover, higher education institutions are being relocated thanks to the ardour and fearlessness of their workers. We sincerely thank everyone for their dedication, which advance the victory.
During the six months of the war, 2 405 educational institutions were damaged by the bombing and shelling of the occupiers. Enemy completely destroyed 270 of them. And if you look at these statistics not through the prism of financial losses, which, of course, are colossal for the economy, but through the prism of lost hours, days, years of tireless work and service of educators, it becomes unbearably painful.
The National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance continues to call on educators and researchers in all countries:
- cease all cooperation with all representatives of education and science, who are active or silent accomplices of russian aggression
- cease any cooperation with higher education institutions and scientific institutions of russia and all related representative associations
- terminate russia’s membership in all global and international organizations, networks and associations of higher education;
- ensure complete isolation of russia from the civilized democratic world.
We ask you: do not be silent and do not forget that absolute evil is being executed near you with the support or tacit consent of the majority of russian colleagues – educators and scientists. And no country can be safe from becoming a victim of the next attack.
The appeal was unanimously approved by the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance at an online meeting on September 5, 2022.