2,700 Ukrainians have received vouchers for education at state expense since the beginning of the year: Yuliia Svyrydenko

Since the beginning of 2024, 2,700 Ukrainians have received a voucher for education at public expense and will be able to acquire a new profession or speciality, or improve their professional level to be more competitive in the labour market. This was announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

“Improving the situation on the labour market and overcoming structural unemployment is one of the priorities for the Government. We provide our citizens with the opportunity to undergo training at public expense to improve their professional level or to obtain a new speciality or profession that is more in demand in the labour market. Ukrainians can apply to the State Employment Service and receive a voucher for UAH 30,000 to pay for their education, choosing an educational institution of their choice. Since the beginning of this year alone, 2,700 people have already taken advantage of this opportunity. Among the most popular professions and specialities to be taught with vouchers this year are nursing, cooking, pre-school education and driving. The state has already financed the issuance of vouchers for UAH 12 million. Since last year, a voucher can also be used to train as a deminer, and more than ten people have already mastered this profession,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Last year, 18,100 Ukrainians received vouchers for training, with a total of UAH 252 million financed under the programme. In 2023, the largest number of vouchers was issued for the following professions and specialities: psychology, social work, education, medicine, construction and civil engineering, cook, driver.

In total, the voucher can be used for training in 124 professions and specialities in IT, construction, transport, education, medicine, agriculture, social services, etc. The person chooses the profession, the educational institution in Ukraine and the form of the study (full-time, part-time or distance learning) on his/her own. Training is provided by vocational (vocational-technical), professional pre-higher and higher education institutions, enterprises, institutions and organisations licensed for such educational activities.

The voucher entitles a person to receive free training in educational institutions or with an employer in a list of professions and specialities approved by the Ministry of Economy. As of today, the voucher amount cannot exceed UAH 30,280. If the cost of training is higher, the employer or the person pays the difference on their own.

Certain categories of citizens can receive a voucher if they have a vocational or higher education, are not registered as unemployed with the employment service and have not received training at the expense of the Mandatory State Unemployment Insurance Fund in the last 3 years. In particular, these are:

• people over the age of 45 (before the age of retirement);
• veterans, combatants;
• internally displaced persons of working age;
• persons with disabilities;
• people who have been injured as a result of military aggression or have been in captivity.