Theoretical aspects of equal educational opportunities of youth in Scandinavian countries were analyzed. Scandinavian countries and European Union education policy for improving the situation with the equality in education in global and regional contexts was systematized in the thesis; connection of Scandinavian countries and European Union with such international organizations as OECD, UNESCO, UNIFEM, UNICEF was demonstrated and their education policy in the field of equal educational opportunities was characterized. The EU policy in ensuring equal educational opportunities was systematized at four stages: stage of uniting (1951-1963) when the problem of inequality in European education was officially acknowledged; stage of searching common educational strategies (1963-1976) when the EU countries developed common aims for equal educational opportunities in primary education; stage of internationalization (1976-1992) when the research carried out by international organizations defined vulnerable categories of youth most likely to face inequality in secondary and higher education, and common strategies against educational inequality were suggested; the stage of practical realizing the idea of lifelong learning (1992 by now) when institutions for practical application of the idea of lifelong learning were created. Practical aspects of equal educational opportunities of youth in Scandinavian countries in national context were analyzed. Organizational and legal framework for strategies of equal educational opportunities of youth in Scandinavian countries was characterized; the sources of educational inequality in the Scandinavian countries were defined and they proved to be influenced by a number of factors, such as: gender, economic, geographic, social, physical, and age. The strategies for equal educational opportunities in Scandinavian countries were generalized and such groups of strategies as educational and social, educational and cultural, educational and economic and educational were defined. The social strategies defined were: strategy of equalization, strategy of society democratization, strategy of public support, integration strategy, and strategy of discrimination preventing. Multicultural strategy was shown as an example of cultural strategies. The analyzed economic strategies were: the strategy of targeted programming and the strategy of financial support. Educational strategies were represented by the strategy of education deformalizing, inclusive strategy, diversification strategy, strategy of education informatization, strategy of education internationalization, strategy of institutional changes. The state of educational opportunities inequality problem in Ukraine at the beginning of 21st century was characterized; a number of Ukrainian laws, where the basic principles of educational opportunities equality were analyzed; practical recommendations for implementing the positive experience of Scandinavian countries in developing strategies of equal educational opportunities for youth were developed. They were presented at state and regional levels. At the state level it was recommended to establish a separate ministerial department responsible for developing strategies of equal educational opportunities for youth in Ukraine, and developing anti-discrimination legislation. The regional level was characterized at social policy, educational establishments, and economy angles. Based on comparative analysis of the current state and strategies of ensuring equal educational opportunities in the Scandinavian countries and in Ukraine the opportunities of Ukrainian educational system improvement as for equal educational opportunities for youth ensuring at national and regional levels, social policy aspect, educational institutions aspect and economic aspect were defined.
