PROGRAM OF GOVERNMENT 2017-2020 Institutions in service of the citizens Education for the new time The Government of the Republic of Macedonia will develop an integrated educational system that will effect increase of the economic growth, as well as labor productivity and it will increase the chances of youth for quality working posts. Our goal is for the system to provide greater societal integration in ethnical, regional, social and cultural sense, to encourage critical thinking and active citizenship. The last results of PISA testing of the students in the Republic of Macedonia show that we need urgent and thorough reforms of the education. That reform will be preceded by a broad public debate in which all entities in the area of education, civil organizations and professional associations will take part. The concept that will come out of that all-inclusive debate will start with its implementation in 2018. Making benefit of the others’ productive experiences and good practices, we will build our own concept of education, appropriate to our needs and abilities, this respecting the European standards. We will give full support to the teaching staff and we will defend the honor, dignity and autonomy of the teachers’ profession. The teachers in Macedonia deserve that support because without motivated teachers there are no successful educational changes. The Government will lead a policy for rationalization of curricula and decrease of the overload of the students in the primary and secondary education. We will focus on mathematical and linguistic skills and courses, which are important for development of the key competences of children. The capital investments in the education, as well as engagement of the teaching staff will be dictated by the need for accessible and quality education for all children. Those investments should help in achievement of the goal for average students per class to be 25 students. The Government will respect the autonomy of the university and dignity of professors and thus, the state universities will be fully responsible for the functioning of the high education according to the constitutional and legal provisions. The Government will propose new way of managing the university, which will lead to a more efficient and more transparent university. Economic growth will also be accelerated with investments in science. The Government will establish state fund for research and development and thus, the present budgetary financing which is minimal (0, 2 of GDP – fifteen times less than the recommendation of the Europe Strategy 2020) will be increased for 50% in the first budget with that aim Macedonia to set aside between 1% and 1.5 % of GDP for research and development at the end of the mandate. The Government will propose annulment of the external testing as a project, which created great revolt by the teachers, and it created annoyance and discontent of the students and their parents. External testing degrades all the efforts and labor of the teachers and students in the course of the entire scholar year, and it did not lead to increased quality. We will introduce evaluation and testing of the students, but without additional input of grades in their final certificates and without sanctions for the teachers. Valuation of the acquired knowledge will be made continuously. Those schools that will show bad results, they will be given additional assistance and support for improvement of the teaching. 29