Another meeting of the higher education sector of the Scientific and Methodological Council of the Ministry of Education and Culture was held, at which the procedure for reviewing and approving higher education standards was discussed.

"The key task of reforming higher education for the 2016/2017 academic year is new standards as a solution to the issue of the new content of higher education," said Oleg Sharov, director of the higher education department of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Ukraine.

He emphasized that the new higher education standards should receive public feedback and external evaluation by experts and be developed by the time when the vast majority of higher education institutions start planning their next academic year.

"Higher education should contribute to the development of general secondary education and return to school," said the director of the higher education department.

The Ministry of Education and Science developed the Concept of a new school, the implementation of which is impossible without high-quality teacher training. For this, it is necessary to develop new standards for pedagogical specialties. Such a responsible task, first of all, is entrusted to the Scientific and Methodological Commissions of the higher education sector for general secondary and professional education, as well as for subject education and sports. It is these NMKs that are working on the development of higher education standards projects using a competency-based approach.

In addition, the members of the higher education sector of the Scientific and Methodological Council of the Ministry of Education and Culture also paid considerable attention to the draft Procedure for consideration and approval of standards of higher education, which provides a mechanism for approving new standards. In particular, the issues of making a decision on the approval of new standards, the main principles of choosing an external reviewer, and others were considered.