Education should become a State Policy Priority - V.Lytvyn
26 August 2011, 12:22
Young people should have an
opportunity to obtain education and achieve self-realization. Chairman of the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn made this statement at the conference of
educators in the city of Novohrad Volynskyi
(Zhytomyr
region).
"The best investment is the one into the future of our children," he stressed.
According to the Head of the Parliament, "the world is going over to the new horizons of development, when intellect, education and high technologies are sought-after." "We have to stake on education, as there is the necessary basis: Zhytomyr region in particular and Ukraine on the whole have a great educational potential, capacities, and trained human resources," the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated.
V.Lytvyn also attaches great importance to the development of industry and economy, and growth of employment, as in 1967, 96% of people with higher education were employed, whereas today only 76% are employed.
V.Lytvyn strongly objects to turning education into an object of political struggle for the office of minister or laws on education. He calls for focusing on the quality of education, which has deteriorated due to the simplified approach to the issues of education.
The Head of the Parliament supposes that quality of education may grow if motivation of educators is raised. Along these lines, V.Lytvyn regretted that a twenty-per-cent increment for the educators introduced since September 1, 2011 would be decreased by inflation. "I believe that at least 10% of the state budget should be allocated for education," he stressed.
Speaking about computerization of schools,
V.Lytvyn stated that technological base for computerization
of village and city schools is already outdated. He also
drew attention to the lack of integration of information and communication
technologies into the educational process.
The Head of the Parliament informed that according to the latest polls, half of the teachers consider their insufficient training to be the main obstacle to the use of IT in education. "These issues shall be tackled," he stated.
As the conference was held after the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Ukraine´s independence, V.Lytvyn called for analyzing the achievements of our state and its further development.
"We have to learn to rely on our own assessments and plans, as the latest events in Ukraine resemble ‘rectifying democracy´, the Head of the Parliament stated. "We copy the life of others," he explained. "It is necessary to consider the experience of other countries, but not to blindly transplant it in the domestic soil."
The Head of the Parliament conferred the Verkhovna Rada awards on the school directors, teachers, and other educators.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will also visit the museum of history of medicine, and open Х All-Ukrainian Football Tournament.