Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov at the Conference Synergy. IT Business & IT Education, organized by the IT Ukraine Association, presented a roadmap for IT education reform in Ukraine.

Together with the Ministry of Education and Science, a reform was developed on the platform of the Economic Recovery Center and with the support of WNISEF, which will comprise 15 areas. They should promote qualitative changes in the development of IT education: non-formal education, higher and professional pre-higher education, as well as general secondary education.

"The Ukrainian IT sphere is actively developing - only this year IT exports grew by 35% and the number of companies by 22%. Meanwhile, the demand for IT specialists is increasing. It is estimated that by 2030, the IT industry will need at least 500-600 thousand professionals. That is why the reform of IT education is one of our priorities now. It needs a comprehensive upgrade at all levels. We need to balance systemic reforms and quick decisions. We are starting to prepare young people for the future, providing them with relevant knowledge and skills," said Mykhailo Fedorov.

Main reform initiatives include:

Development of non-formal education - private schools, training courses that teach IT specialties:

- we develop a mechanism for recognizing results of studies that can be obtained in non-formal education, within the formal system. Results of studies, for example, in an IT school, will be included in the student's curriculum at the university or college;

- creation of a special fund, which will cover 50% of the cost of training in non-formal education institutions for switchers - these are people who want to change their specialty and get an IT profession.

Increasing the competitiveness and autonomy of higher education institutions:

- Public KPI of heads of educational institutions. We want to include indicators of cooperation with business in the mandatory performance indicators of university leaders.

- Involvement of practitioners and foreign teachers.

- Together with the IT community, we will prepare new professional standards for modern professions in the industry, and then add them to the state classifier.

- Development of dual education. This is the practice when a student spends a significant part of his studies at the company.

Reform of mathematics and computer science lessons in schools:

-Video course in mathematics and computer science.

-Development of network education. This is an opportunity for a child to attend a certain subject outside of school in another institution.

-Professional guidance for schoolchildren. Online meetings with bright professionals, testing, information campaigns for children to learn about real modern professions and get motivated to learn.

The fastest effect can be obtained from stimulating the development of non-formal education, the result of systemic changes in schools can be seen in 10 years. The development of a partnership between the state and the IT sector in the development of joint curricula at universities will allow students to acquire the knowledge and skills that the market really needs. Growth in the number of qualified specialists will also contribute to GDP growth. One of the goals of the Ministry of Digital Transformation is to increase the share of IT in GDP to USD 17 billion by 2024.

"For 15 years we have been cooperating with representatives of the government, IT business, higher education institutions and numerous partners for the development of IT education in Ukraine. Education is one of the most important areas of work of the IT Ukraine Association because the development of talent is a crucial factor in the growth and strengthening of the Ukrainian industry on the world stage," said Executive Director of the IT Ukraine Association Kostiantyn Vasiuk.

The roadmap for reforming IT education in Ukraine was developed at the initiative of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Analytical and technical support is provided by the Economic Recovery Center with the assistance of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, which supports reform initiatives in Ukraine and transformation projects.