KIEV, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- World Bank (WB) Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Satu Kahkonen said that Ukraine should accelerate and expand education reform, Interfax Ukraine News Agency reported Monday.
"The reform is now at a good start and it is moving in the right direction, but, in our opinion, despite the fact that you have worked very hard over the past year, education reform must accelerate and expand in order to get the results that we all expect," Kahkonen said at the conference "New Ukrainian School: Challenges and Prospects for Educational Reform" held in Kiev on Monday.
Ukraine spends more on education reform than many European countries, but still lags behind its peers, she said, calling for more efficiency and effective spending.
Ukraine's higher education quality has declined over the past years, and the number of universities is too high compared to the number of students.
Corruption and poor academic integrity, especially in higher education, are affecting its quality and value, Kahkonen said.
The WB is ready to support authorities in accelerating and expanding the reform of higher education, she added.
The Ukrainian government has invested over 7 billion Ukrainian hryvnia (277.9 million U.S. dollars) in education reform since the reform was launched in 2018.
