Adam Martyniuk: Villages may be left without Schools due to the Introduction of a 12-year Secondary Education
"If the applicable Law "On Comprehensive Secondary Education" is not amended, since September, 1 2010 the pupils who finished 9 grades will have to study for three years, instead of two. It means that the state shall bear extra expenditures", Adam Martyniuk, First Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, co-author of the bill, stated in the interview to Kyivskyi Visnyk periodical.
A.Martyniuk criticized the provisions of the applicable Law that envisage a 12-year secondary education in Ukraine. He stressed: "To implement the effective Law, a place for a three-hundred-thousand ‘class´ should be found. This ‘class´ requires extra 18 thousand teachers, 7 thousand of them for the rural area."
The politician is worried that "a 12-year secondary education will cause serious problems to the village schools of І-ІІ grades, which can merely close down."
Commenting upon the opinion poll regarding continuance of secondary education in Ukraine, A.Martyniuk stressed that 70% of respondents including pupils, parents and teachers expressed their negative attitude towards a twelve-year schooling.
The First Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine refuted the statement that if Ukraine retained an 11-year secondary education, Europe would not recognize it. "This is absolutely wrong. We received an official letter from the Council of Europe Department that states that it is the innovative technologies, competent staff and modern content of educational process that determine the quality of education and the level of knowledge, not the period of studies."
A.Martyniuk reminded that "the idea of compulsory pre-school education" was raised at the parliamentary hearings on the endurance of secondary education, and was supported by the majority of its attendants. The politician produced some figures: "More than 93 % of children in Europe obtain compulsory pre-school education."
"Judging from the actions taken by the Ministry of Education, it is possible to conclude that educational process sustains drastic changes", A.Martyniuk stated. "The coalition will definitely support these changes." A.Martyniuk stated that "the material non-inherent to the Ukrainian mentality will be excluded, the course books in history being amended as well."
"Schooling depends on the actual economic development of the country", A.Martyniuk stressed. "Judging from the deputies´ moods, I am convinced that the bill on amendments to the Law on Secondary Education will be adopted as a law in the nearest time."
A full version of the interview is available in Kyivskyi Visnyk periodical of June, 26 or at the web site of the newspaper at http://kiev-vestnik.com.ua/327-adam-martynyuk-u-nas-prekrasnye-sovetskie-tradicii-obucheniya-i-vospitaniya.html