Impact of rural schools on further adaptation of rural youth to the university life in a city: experience of Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University

. The current research aims to summarize the features of school education in rural areas in Ukraine and to establish their potential influence on students' academic and socio-psychological adaptation to a new learning and living environment. Small number of students in class, poor material and technical condition, limited opportunities for self-realization, low motivation to study etc. are distinguished as the basic peculiarities of Ukrainian rural schools. The authors’ mini-questionnaire revealed that 62% of the first-year students of rural origin from a local Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University at Cherkasy experience hardships during adaptation. Challenges faced by 270 first-year students are described: personal, educational, living conditions, psychological, communicative, relationships in the group. The outcomes of the study convince that students of rural origin encounter additional challenges adjusting to changed living conditions while studying in universities in contrast to students from urban and suburban areas. Recommendations are provided to assist rural school counselors in preparing students for their further adaptation at large colleges and universities. Directions of work of psychological service, counsellors and educators in higher education institutions are displayed: individual counseling for the student, development and implementation of special training programs, integration of individual classes into training programs. RESUMEN. La investigación actual tiene por objeto resumir las características de la educación escolar en las zonas rurales de Ucrania y establecer su posible influencia en la adaptación académica y sociopsicológica de los estudiantes a un nuevo entorno de aprendizaje y de vida. Se distinguen como peculiaridades básicas de las escuelas rurales ucranianas el reducido número alumnos clases, las malas condiciones materiales y técnicas, las limitadas oportunidades de realización personal, la escasa motivación para estudiar, etc.


Research Question
Does rural origin of students influence their further academic, social and emotional adaptation to the changed learning and living environment?
The relevance of this problem can be explained by certain aspects: first, the need to ensure equal and high quality In addition, researchers Chyhryn (2006), Kaleeva (2002), Peters (1990) claim that the students of rural origin studying in cities often feel constrained and that they are not "fully accepted" in their new environments and are likely to experience some forms of social and emotional pressure.
To explore the factors that may influence adjustment of Ukrainian first- year students of rural origin, this study provides analysis of the features of rural school education (on the example of Ukrainian rural schools).

A small number of students per class
A significant factor that determines the specificity of the educational process in a rural school is a small number of school

Limited opportunities for students' creative self-realization and insufficient team work experience
Adaptation is a prerequisite for social activity of a student and an indicator of the

Low motivation of students to study
In the countryside, the specificity of the labor market has changed. If, in the recent past, agricultural production  ideas, expectations about studying at the university.

Self-assessment of the degree of adaptation
The self-report indicators of the degree of adaptation of freshmen by the end of the second semester are as follows.
38.6% of the dormitory respondents said that the process of adaptation was easy for them, but 62% of respondents still have difficulty adjusting.  conduct confidential conversations with students that would allow them to express Shalivska, Y., Tkachenko, K., & Danylyuk, S. (2020)   psychological support to rural youth who have come to the city to receive education, regardless of whether they intend to stay in the city forever or plan to return to the village.

Work with rural high school students
Often, the choice of rural high school seniors to migrate to the city is not based on their own thinking, but on the model or guidance of significant adults and peers.

Work with students of rural origin
It is important to emphasize that the most active migration of rural population to the city is at the age of 15-24 years (Chyhryn, 2006