Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that quality of higher education in Ukraine has dropped and called for a reduction in the quantity of higher education establishments.
"Do we need so many education establishments, [which are] as a rule, of poor quality? The answer is obviously no," the president said at a meeting of the public humanitarian council in Kyiv on Thursday.
The president asked the meeting participants whether the current system of higher education establishments provide appropriate types of education (there are 862 higher education establishments in Ukraine).
The head of state also noted that no Ukrainian universities are among the world’s top 500 universities. Yanukovych said at least three Ukrainian universities should strive to enter this rating.
Speaking about problems of higher education, Yanukovych proposed to discuss the issue of rendering the right of autonomy to universities, as is done in Europe.
"Perhaps we should also be ready to grant leading universities the right to form their academic programs independently and determine and change their organizational structure," he said.
