The importance of education in the system of sustainable development of the national economy is investigated in this paper. It is education that is a strategic resource and currently a significant reserve of the state, which can be used for the benefit of society as a whole.It is shown that education and science should be given a political weight, because education in the age of globalization and high technology is a factor of social stability, economic well-being of the country, its competitiveness and national security. Only with such an approach to education it can be taken out of departmental and sectoral barriers and return it to its natural stability as an area of investment and implementation of national interests and priorities of our state. It is proposed to consider the following criteria as priorities: raising the status of educators and scientists and forming a new culture of mutual responsibility of education and science for the fate of society, and society and the state – for the state of education and science; ensuring equal access to the sound academic background; formation of educational standards in accordance with the new requirements of the labor market and the principles of their coordination in the context of the processes of education internationalization and labor market globalization; achieving the level of education quality which guarantee the competitiveness of our education at the international level; providing mechanisms for implementing the concept of lifelong learning; education of morally and spiritually developed individuals with creative and critical thinking, active public position, active members of Ukrainian society and the world community; creation of the new partnership model of the state interaction with organizations of scientists, according to which decisions on priorities of scientific policy should be made on the basis of wide involvement of scientists self-organization; achieving the level of education and science funding in accordance with the requirements of current legislation and the needs to preserve and increase the scientific potential of the state; improving the information support of domestic education and science by targeted increase in scientific libraries funding, providing access to major paper and electronic scientific publications. It is shown that the education system should create conditions to ensure and preserve physical and moral health of children. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement the system of prevention of alcohol and drug addiction among students, develop and implement effective programs to promote healthy lifestyle; develop and implement state programs on public education, patriotic education and education for democratic society; to support pupil and student self-government, youth public organizations, societies which promote formation of active civil position.