Ministry of Education is suspected of inefficient use of money from the budget – MP
11 February 22:04
The relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as unsatisfactory in several areas. This was announced on February 11 by Ukrainian MP Larysa Bilozir in a post on her Facebook page, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
“Today, during the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada, I addressed the parliament again on educational issues. The war has brought huge challenges to Ukraine, and many areas of life have changed. If we turn a blind eye to the problems of education today, tomorrow we risk having a society that will not have enough knowledge and skills to restore and develop the country. Education is not a secondary issue, it is a matter of national security, it is the foundation of the future,” Bilozir wrote.
She noted that over the past four months, the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Innovation has recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as unsatisfactory in various areas three times.
Thus, on October 22, 2024, the Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science as unsatisfactory in providing textbooks and teaching aids to the general secondary education system. Systemic problems were identified that led to delays in the delivery of textbooks to schools in the 2024/25 school year and could lead to disruption of delivery next year.
As early as January 15, 2025, the relevant Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science as unsatisfactory in terms of timely preparation of bylaws to implement the Law of Ukraine “On Preschool Education”. Out of 49 required acts, only two were adopted in seven months, which caused problems in the operation of kindergartens and the calculation of employees’ salaries.
In addition, on January 22, 2025, the Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science in 2024 as unsatisfactory in terms of taking measures to ensure the effective use of subventions from the state budget to local budgets.
“I, and the public, have the impression that regardless of the direction of the Ministry of Education and Science, the assessment of its work remains unsatisfactory. I am particularly concerned about the issue of subventions. I am constantly approached by people from the district about this. And what do we have today? A complete failure,” the MP noted.
As an example, Bilozir took the subvention for the modernization of canteens (food units) in general secondary education institutions. Last year, the state budget law provided for UAH 1.5 billion. According to the MP, due to the irresponsible position of the Ministry of Education and Science, UAH 480 million was not used.
“Considering the Committee’s decision on this issue, we see that 173 projects were approved; 51 projects were fully implemented, 75 projects were implemented by 40% or more. A certain number of projects are in a state of 0-40% readiness, and 16 projects have not even started work, in addition, 7 have refused to be implemented. This is unacceptable,” Larysa Bilozir summarized .
