In the first reading, the Verkhovna Rada supported the reform of higher education financing

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In the first reading, the Verkhovna Rada supported the Government’s initiative to reform the higher education financing system. It provides for the introduction of training grants.

As reported people’s deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, 234 people’s deputies voted for this bill.

“For any country, an effective education system requires dynamic development, strong professionals and economic well-being. We cannot postpone changes, because this will delay the country’s development.

War is not a reason to stop, but on the contrary, it is an impetus to accelerate changes in order to develop human capital. The proposed changes will make it possible to use limited budget funds more efficiently and fairly.” – Yes explained the need to introduce a grant system for payment of education in higher education institutions Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

According to the draft law, the state procurement system will continue to operate for those specialties for which the state can predict the need. That is, the state will pay 100% of training costs and provide the first job.

Instead, before studying in those specialties, the need for which the state cannot predict, students will be able to receive grants that will fully and partially cover their studies. The size of the grant will be determined by the results of the ZNO/NMT.

“The state grant can partially cover the education, and the rest will be paid by the parents or, if the student chooses an individual trajectory, it is possible that he will work and study at the same time.

It is foreseen that the grants will be different, the amounts may change from year to year: the state grant will be able to cover 80, 70 or only 30% depending on the student’s performance. – explained Mykhailo Vynnytskyi, Deputy Minister of Higher Education.

The draft law does not specify a specific number of budget seats. It is assumed that the volume of the state order will be set by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine every year in accordance with the needs of the state. After the new financing mechanism is fully operational, it will be possible to predict the volume of state orders in advance.

The MES expects that the co-financing system will start working as early as September 2024, but the speed of its implementation will depend, in particular, on the support of the Verkhovna Rada.

The changes will only apply to new entrants and will not apply to students who have previously enrolled.