Yesterday, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko chaired a discussion of issues related to reforms in education at the 12th session of the National Council of Reforms.

"High-quality education must be affordable for all Ukrainians, no matter where they live. Elementary schools, in turn, must be everywhere, even in the smallest inhabited localities," he said at the session.

According to Poroshenko, about 10 million citizens either teach or study today. Moreover, the majority of families are adjacent to the educational process through their children and grandchildren.

"That's why we can't consider education a sectoral [sic] problem. Except for ensuring the defense capacity of the state, education is our first priority," Poroshenko said.

He noted the importance of restoring the prestige of teaching as a profession.

"We often say that we entrust our children to teachers. Thus, there is a question, why do we entrust the best we have to those whom we pay the least? His Majesty Teacher should be in the center of the new law on education," Poroshenko said.

He said that despite, the lack of funds, the situation in the education sector is better than in many other spheres. In the World University Rankings, two Ukrainian universities were included in the Top 500.

Poroshenko shared his impressions from meeting with the winners of international academic competitions. "Every student is a completely formed person. I am sincerely proud of each of them. We should do everything to support such young talents," he said.

He noted that education reform was one of the top priorities of the Strategy of Reforms 2020.

The president stressed that Ukraine's accession to the Bologna Process in May 2005 had been an important step in the context of the entry into the European educational space and an indicator of major changes in education.

The next step in this direction was the law "On higher education". Ukrainian higher education has an opportunity to introduce practices inherent in European universities as institutions independently manage earnings.

"This meets the overall concept of decentralization as universities have both increased opportunities and increased responsibility," Poroshenko said.

"It is high time to build new partnership relations between universities and scientific institutions. It is vital for intensification of innovational processes and solution of important social problems," he said.

The president underlined the importance of updating the content of education, bringing it in compliance with the needs of society and the state. He particularly mentioned the importance of updating educational standards, programs and textbooks.

The president also emphasized the importance of synchronizing the education system with the needs of the labor market: "We cannot stamp economists and lawyers when there is a high shortage of qualified engineers, chemists or biologists."

According to the president, the modern world requires new concepts: life-long education, financial literacy, a course on which has already been introduced in Ukrainian schools, and digital literacy. The president also highlighted the development of the project on teaching English.

"Representatives of English-speaking countries are willing to provide practical, theoretical and financial assistance for us to radically change the attitude of people to English, which long ago become a language of international communication and opened new opportunities for every student," Poroshenko said.