Poroshenko wants to shut down ineffective universities: "Students pay money and receive an empty paper instead of knowledge and profession"
The president emphasized that "reforms in education of Ukraine will improve prestige and quality of education," Censor.NET reports citing the press service of the head of state.
Poroshenko stated that it would be appropriate to reduce the number of higher education institutions in Ukraine. The president noted that because of corruption and ill-conceived policy of previous governments in Ukraine, the number of higher education institutions had increased unreasonably. This figure reaches the highest rate in Europe - one institution per 49,000 people. He added that in Germany and France the given figure was respectively 10 times and 30 times lower. However, the quality of education in these countries is much higher.
"It is hard to reduce, but unfortunately students pay money and receive an empty paper instead of knowledge and profession. As a result, we have a zero interest from the labor market. Such higher education institutions must be closed or have a different status," the president said. He is confident that the prestige and quality of education will be improved with the reduction of the number of higher education institutions.
The head of state emphasized that educational reform had been started with the adoption of the law "On Higher Education". At the same time, the president noted that "higher education institutions should remember that they have autonomous rights that increase their accountability for the quality of education they provide."
According to the president, democratization of education will improve the situation. "There will be no democratization in society without democratization of universities," he said.
Poroshenko expressed confidence that qualitative education will become a precondition for building a new country: "It is an absolutely clear investment in the future. Nothing will be achieved unless you educate and teach the new generation," he noted.
The head of state also emphasized an important role of educators: "Your work is extremely important for changes in the country. We need educated, professional people that have no features of Soviet thinking."
The president is confident that today's students are a bright example of patriotism. In this context, he has noted that benefits for students had been imposed on purpose during mobilization, for them to have an opportunity to receive high-quality education.
The president noted that Ukrainians had always demonstrated a desire to be Europeans: "Current generation of Ukrainians faces an extremely important task - implement reforms, change the country, make everything for us to feel like a truly European state."
