₴38 million of «educational» subvention was allocated to Mykolaiv Oblast: this is one of the smallest amounts among the regions

School textbooks in school offices, photo: Serhii Ovcharyshyn, NikVesti

The government has allocated 38 million hryvnias from the state budget as an «educational» subvention for educational institutions of the Mykolaiv region. These funds will be spent on the purchase of equipment, books and furniture.

This is evidenced by the order approved by the Cabinet of Ministers «On the distribution of the amount of subvention from the state budget to local budgets for the provision of high-quality, modern and accessible general secondary education «New Ukrainian School» in 2024», writes NikVesti.

More than 38 million hryvnias for the Mykolaiv Oblast are directed as follows:

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• 33.7 million hryvnias — for equipment in physics, chemistry, biology, geography, and natural sciences offices;
• 2.4 million hryvnias for equipment and furniture for classrooms of pilot educational institutions;
• 1.8 million hryvnias for paper and electronic books for pilot educational institutions.

In total, the government allocated 1.5 billion hryvnias of «educational» subvention, which was distributed among 24 regions and Kyiv. Lviv region (117 million hryvnias), Odesa region (103.9 million hryvnias) and Kyiv (110.5 million hryvnias) will receive the largest subventions.

38 million hryvnias are directed to the Mykolaiv region. Five regions will receive less than this: Luhansk region (676 thousand hryvnias), Donetsk region (1.3 million hryvnias), Kherson region (1.6 million hryvnias), Kharkiv region (6.8 million hryvnias) and Zaporizhzhia region 11.7 million hryvnias).

At the same time, local budgets must co-finance the planned purchases in the amount of 5% to 30%. And educational institutions must work on a full-time or mixed form of education and have shelter.

How was the money distributed between regions?

The size of the subvention for each region was determined by the commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine according to the following criteria, the department reported:

• teaching aids and equipment for science classrooms — in proportion to the number of 6 classes in the 2023/2024 academic year;
• teaching aids, equipment and furniture for pilot schools — in proportion to the number of schools that work on a full-time basis, a combination of full-time and remote forms of education;
• educational and teaching-methodical literature for pilot schools - in proportion to the number of students and teachers of such schools;
• professional development — in proportion to the number of people who need it.

What about children's education in Mykolaiv?

Mykolaiv schoolchildren have been studying online since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. Although the government, with the help of donors and the state, is actively setting up shelters in educational institutions, which sometimes causes indignation among the townspeople.

The refusal of children to go to school is a guarantee of their personal safety, because Mykolaiv is still in the zone of possible ballistic damage from the Russian military, says Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of preparing shelters and resuming education in schools when the Armed Forces move the front line.

Earlier, the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim explained why schools in Mykolaiv still work online: educational institutions are targets for the Russian army, since at the beginning of a full-scale war, they usually housed military personnel.

It is worth noting that earlier in response to the information request of NikVesti regarding the criteria that educational institutions of Mykolaiv must meet in order to resume full-time work in the 2023-2024 academic year, the city's education department reported: schools will work in accordance with the recommendations of the State Emergency Service and the Sanitary Regulations approved by the Ministry health care. The first is the availability of shelter, and the second is drinking water at school.

In the next few years, the authorities plan to equip 54 shelters in kindergartens, schools and lyceums in Mykolaiv.

In general, the outflow of students was recorded in Mykolaiv schools this year. Compared to the last academic year, the number of students decreased by 3,300.

Lithuania plans to build a shelter school in the Mykolaiv region by the end of 2024. Similar underground institutions should appear in 5 more regions of Ukraine.

As of February 2024, shelters were installed in 31% of schools in Mykolaiv. There are 21 institutions of general secondary education: 10 lyceums and 11 gymnasiums.

Where in the Mykolaiv Oblast is there a full-time education?

57 educational institutions were allowed to work offline in the Mykolaiv region. Most of them are schools of Voznesenskyi and Pervomaiskyi districts. In addition, 94 schools work mixed, that is, children study offline in a certain sequence, for example, one week after another. Another 277 educational institutions work online.

It was also possible to organize an offline educational process in front-line Ochakiv, which is still in the zone of damage by enemy anti-aircraft missiles. There is a mixed form of education.

According to the monitoring of the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council, 65% of schoolchildren want to study full-time.