President Victor Yushchenko sent letter to Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych, according to the President`s press-office. In his letter V. Yushchenko asked the government to prepare a plan of implementation of independent examination in 2008 for all those school graduates who are to enter institutes.
These measures are aimed at fighting some negative social occurrences in country’s education system such as bribery and corruption.
President said that such examination limitedly tested in years 2006-2007 in accordance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine № 1013 of July 4, 2005 has shown good results. Therefore he is assured that positive experience gives grounds for nationwide implementation of independent examination for all school graduates who are to enter institutes.
However President expressed worries about ineffective efforts of interdepartmental workgroup which had been created to monitor education quality and issues of independent examination implementation.
V. Yushchenko obliged Prime Minister to report on carried out work in that field before December 15, 2007.
Another topic President dwelled on in his letter to Prime Minister is the insufficient funding of Ukrainian publishing-houses and bookshops provided by the draft law on budget for 2008.
V. Yushchenko is indignant at the situation around publishing-houses and bookstores which is a consequence of article 118 of the budget law 2007 interpretation. In this article legislators provided competitive conditions for all organizations willing to rent office or production properties, including for publishing organizations, disregarding however the differences in their paying capacity. “They put paying capacities of restaurant owners, casinos, clothing stores’, natural gas or oil traders` and those of creative unions’, picture-galleries’, art studios’, libraries’, private and State publishing-houses’ or bookshops’ in one row”, - President said.
V. Yushchenko drew Prime Minister’s attention to the fact that in the draft law on budget for 2008 there are no publishing-houses or bookshops present in the list of organizations to which competitive practices during property renting do not apply.
“Regarding the need of Ukrainian publishing-houses and bookshops for efficient support I ask You to take this issue into consideration during revision of the draft law on budget for 2008”, - wrote President in his letter.
