PM believes knowledge and professionalism to be the economy of the future

The approved law on higher education provides a completely new approach to the financing of government order," Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated on Tuesday, October 21, in Lviv at a meeting with students of local universities.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that Ukraine had signed and ratified the Agreement with the EU, but the way from signing of the agreement to its implementation is "very long and difficult." Ukraine, according to him, should be part of Europe, in particular through the qualitative changes in the education system.

He recalled that the adopted by the Parliament law on higher education had been developing by him and chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science Liliia Hrynevych for more than two years, even while he had been in opposition.

According to him, the law "enables Ukrainian universities to meet the European requirements and standards." The law provides self- government for schools as well as for students. We have developed a completely new approach to the financing of government order," the PM said.

One of the main purposes of this Law, the Prime Minister stressed, is to bind the education market to the labor one.

"We have invested universities with wide powers. Everybody asked for more rights. We said: manage at your universities yourselves, define curricula yourselves. Spend yourselves money that you earn, - we will not concentrate the money in the accounts of the treasury," he emphasized.

The adoption of this law, according to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is "the first step in order to get the new quality of knowledge and the new quality of an individual."

However, the PM stressed the need for further changes in the educational sphere: "What is higher education? This is a superstructure. A foundation is preschool and secondary education.

"Knowledge, intelligence, professionalism and experience are extremely important for Ukraine, because this is the economy of the future and the world of the future. No gas and oil is important, but someone who knows how to replace oil and gas. Strong people are needed for each country, but especially for Ukraine", he said.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressed the students: "We are strong, everyone does his/her job - and thanks to this work everyone is creating the country's future. In decades Ukraine shall be one of the exemplary countries of the European Union. "