20 January 2011, 15:40
Mykola Tomenko: The Parliament shall not adopt a New Version of the Law on Education without Expert Discussion and Support of the Higher Education Establishments
On Thursday, January 20, a round table discussion "The Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education regarding the Student's Self-Government": Results of the Year - Innovations and Scheduled Changes" was held in the Parliament under the chairmanship of Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Discussing a new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education", Mykola Tomenko stated that the issue would be widely discussed during the next session, as it is pressing for Ukraine. The Deputy Chairman informed about 2 alternative bills registered in the Parliament that present a new version of the Law (submitted by People´s Deputies Yu. Miroshnuchenko (Reg. No.7486), and O. Yefremov, O.Zarubinskyi, S. Kivalov and others (Reg. No.7486-1). He also stated that the subject Committee recommended the Parliament to adopt the bill by O. Yefremov, as "it is properly finalized and correspondent to the current needs of the higher education development."
However, Mykola Tomenko is convinced that the bill in question shall not be hastily scrutinized. He called for a broad discussion of the possible changes in the system of education of Ukraine. "The suggested innovations in the system of higher education should be discussed both in the university community and among the experts", he believes.
According to M. Tomenko, a cut down of the governmental order and introduction of extra fee-based services will become the most sensitive issues of the changes in the education system.
Mykola Tomenko hopes that the bill on amendments to the Law on Education will not follow the example of the Tax Code. "A serious discussion should be held, as it concerns hundred thousands of people (not only students, but also their parents and teachers). We can not take the liberty of adopting such a bill without discussion", M. Tomenko is convinced.