Minister of Education and Science Serhii Shkarlet informed that during a meeting of the European Council of Ministers for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport, EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel noted that the EU was currently focused on ensuring the sustainability of the European educational space and national education systems in times of crisis.
She stressed that in recent years Europe has been hit by two major crises – the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian military aggression in Ukraine. An important lesson is that education is the key to responding to crises. Access to education and socialization at school is a major theme for the personal development of young people. Together with the EU Member States, it managed to respond quickly to existing challenges through coordinated action, Erasmus+ Programme capabilities and access to educational online content.
The European Commissioner noted that it managed to mobilize the capabilities of the Erasmus+ Programme. In particular, part of the funds will be directed to projects to help Ukrainian refugees. Ukrainian teachers will receive the necessary support for their integration in the host countries and may be sent to regions where refugees are temporarily accommodated.
In addition, more than 3,000 Ukrainian teachers already have full access to eTwinning educational resources and can start their own projects.
Mariya Gabriel also proposed new specific measures to support Ukrainian education and science.
Namely:
- 200 million euros from the Erasmus+ Programme budget for 2027 is reallocated to 2023 to support Ukrainian students and lecturers next year;
- 25 million euros are earmarked for scholarships for Ukrainian researchers through a new initiative under the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Programme – MSCA4Ukraine. This will allow 200 researchers to continue their research for 2 years at the university of an EU member state or a country that is an associate member of Horizon Europe.
It should be recalled that the Government has denounced agreements in the field of education and science with the Republic of Belarus.
