The system of training future law enforcement officers in Ukraine: implementing the competence approach

Abstract

The article examines the features of training future law enforcement officers of Ukraine through the prism of the competenceapproach. It is noted that the state, acting as a reformer, sets the task of improving efficiency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs ofUkraine in ensuring security, protecting human rights and freedoms as the main goal of administrative reform, which requires consi -dering the administrative activities structure of law enforcement bodies as an integral system. The principles of reforming law enforcementbodies, as related and universal categories, can be summarized as follows: the rule of law, depoliticization, demilitarization, decentralization,accountability and transparency, close cooperation with the public and local communities, professional training.It is emphasized that the on-going reforms of law enforcement bodies greatly affect the process of professional training in educationalinstitutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as well as call for the quality of their professional culture and training,readiness to perform specific tasks requiring special knowledge, abilities, and skills. Today, graduates of educational institutions of theMinistry of Internal Affairs are required to show high professionalism, lawfulness, and humanity at the same time in the performanceof their duties. According to many researchers, the best way to increase the efficiency of law enforcement bodies is to develop a theoreticallysubstantiated system for the formation and development of professionalism of law enforcement officers. In addition,researchers emphasize that increasing role of a law enforcement officer requires a high professional self-awareness, the developmentof which is possible through the formation of a sense of responsibility for their actions, understanding the need for continuous improvementof their professional skills, taking into account the features of activities in particular units of law enforcement bodies and by deve -loping new professional and psychological approaches to the training.It is concluded that the reorientation to the competence approach in educational activities aims primarily to minimize the shortcomingsof the disciplinary system of education, to expand knowledge as a result of the process of cognitive activity, abilities as thecapability to perform certain work in accordance with knowledge acquired, skills as repetitive actions made automatic in the processof applying competence approach to education. In this case, according to a number of researchers, competence is understood as know -ledge and experience necessary for effective activities in a given subject area, through matching with the requirements of the profession,as the professional’s having the necessary amount of knowledge, abilities, and skills, constituting the basis for his or her professionalactivities, communication, and personality. The competence approach can be interpreted as a set of general principles for determiningthe goals of education, shaping educational programs, organizing the educational process, and evaluating educational results.