Educational system in independent Ukraine should develop in conformity with state and national interests, fulfilling social order to bring up citizens of free, democratic society. These should be people with high social values and ideals, possessing high professional and personal qualities. Educational system should be protected by law from interference of political interests and influence of any ideological organisations.
We favour expansion of international standards over the system of education and upbringing in Ukraine, while preserving the best traditions and achievements of national system of education. For every citizen of Ukraine to be able to receive high quality education meeting international standards, be competitive at the international labour market, it is necessary to undertake structural changes, and to significantly improve financial, informational situation and professional level of personnel of educational institutions.
Based on our strategic goal - developing society of equal opportunities - the main task of educational policy for us is to secure equal access of all young people to education irrespective of financial possibilities and income. We are convinced that comprehensive public, professional and higher education should be free of charge. We consider it the main duty of every citizen of Ukraine to complete secondary education.
Equality in education should be guaranteed at an earlier stage of person's development. To do that, we believe, it is necessary to revive and expand the system of pre-school education; and the percent of children involved in it should be on the level of European standards (60%). Pre-school educational establishments should start the process of eliminating or adjusting gap and differences with children from poor families; it is the right time since they just begin their life. Special attention should be paid to school education and upbringing in the rural areas.
We believe that it is extremely important in terms of equal opportunities in education, to reduce school age to six years and extend the term of education to 12 years to meet educational standards of the most developed European countries.
In the interests of state, society and personality we should provide guarantees for gifted and talented children to have all opportunities for early testing of their capabilities and their harmonious development then. The sate and national business community should provide significant support to various pedagogical initiatives innovative projects aimed at forming cultural, scientific, technical and political elite of our society.
It is necessary to fully revive activity of special general and professionals schools for disabled children, provide social assistance to orphans, children from families with many children, single parent families, families with low income and to children affected by Chernobyl disaster to facilitate their access to education.
Public educational establishments of all levels require significant improvement and upgrading of equipment and facilities. They should be equipped with modern equipment, electronic equipment, modern means of telecommunication. Students of comprehensive schools should be provided with free manuals and textbooks for the entire academic term. Students of universities and colleges should receive differentiated type of scholarship not less than minimum cost of living. Pupils and students canteens, dormitories and other related facilities should be properly maintained and provide adequate level of services that contributes to receiving good education. Society where a teacher is not financially and morally protected can not expect young generation to respect work as the only decent way to provide for their wellbeing. Bearing in mind high social value of profession of lectures and teachers, the state should guarantee adequate system of evaluation of their job, do everything possible so that profession of a teacher will become the most prestigious in the system of social labour distribution. We should protect human resources potential of educational system as national achievement.
It is necessary to renew the system of privileges for teachers that work in the rural areas. There is no future for villages without schools. It is needed to revive and expand cultural and social functions of school in the countryside, in the first place.
To secure really equal access to education, within shortest possible time it is necessary:
. to implement a number of measures of legal and economic nature to provide equal opportunities for education in urban and rural areas;
. to develop and introduce system of long-term privileged educational loan schemes for young people seeking to get higher education in non-public educational establishments or abroad. It is necessary to encourage co-operation of educational institutions of Ukraine with other countries to jointly develop curricula and expand the practice of instructors and students exchange programmes;
. create non-public regional testing centres for school graduates that would enable to eliminate the system of entrance exams to higher educational establishments and enrol students to universities and colleges on a competitive basis depending on their tests results;
. in the best possible way to bring closer education to the place of residence of a student. To achieve this, to expand the network of subsidiaries of higher educational institutions in rayon towns, partly providing their financing from local budget. Develop distance learning, system of open universities.
To avoid devaluation of higher education, we think it is necessary to exercise efficient control over functioning of non-public educational institutions.
Citizens of our country should have a real opportunity to be involved in the academic process to get additional training, retraining or improve qualification at any stage of their life. We believe that to closely co-ordinate system of professional education with the demands of economy and market; to quickly and adequately modify or adjust contents and forms of training of specialists at the national and regional levels, it is necessary to create and ensure functioning of system of monitoring of assessing needs and quality of labour resources.
We are convinced that system of education of all levels should guarantee wide knowledge of students in arts, computer literacy, knowledge of two-three foreign languages.