Access to education for all children without exception is one of the principal rules for this academic year, stressed Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a Government session on September 1.
“In 2022 and 2023, we worked together with local authorities and international partners to restore, modernize and re-equip 270 educational institutions. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this important work,” said the Head of Government.
Moreover, the Prime Minister noted that the Government had allotted UAH 1 billion of subvention on the terms of co-financing from regional or local budgets. According to him, now 18 regions have signed contracts for the purchase of almost 500 school buses through the Prozorro Market system.
“Thanks to our ongoing work with our European partners, we have managed to reach agreements to supply more than 300 buses by the end of this year. These buses will come from the European Union as humanitarian aid. 192 buses have already been delivered to schools,” informed Denys Shmyhal.
Wherever offline learning is not currently possible, the State is improving the quality and accessibility of online education, the Head of Government stressed. For this purpose, Ukrainian teachers have already received almost 96,000 laptops, while schoolchildren have received about 36,000 devices. By the end of the year, students will receive another 40,000 such gadgets, Denys Shmyhal added.
“This is crucial because it opens up opportunities for every child to get knowledge wherever he or she is staying. This also applies to Ukrainian children who are now abroad. We are doing everything we can to keep them connected to the Ukrainian educational space. This is one of the important prerequisites for the return of our people home,” emphasized the Prime Minister.
For the children who are not in Ukraine, the Government has adopted a decision to reformat the educational process. A standard educational program was approved, which provides for the study of only subjects with a Ukrainian component approximately 6-8 hours a week.