According to the bill on financing higher education, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading on March 20, training in medical specialties should be paid for by the state.
This was reported on the website of the Ministry of Health, Ukrinform reports.
“The document proposes changing approaches to the formation of state orders for training specialists, mechanisms for providing graduates with jobs, as well as diversifying budget funding for higher education. The changes provided for by the bill will expand the opportunities for applicants, including in medical specialties: the state will pay for their education, and everyone is guaranteed to get a job after training,” the Ministry of Health reported.
As the ministry noted, According to the new approaches, budget financing of higher education will be carried out taking into account the needs of the labor market, therefore the state order will be carried out in the specialties most needed by the state, including in the field of healthcare.
Budget funds will be allocated for higher education in these specialties, which in turn will encourage applicants to enroll in them.
Applicants choosing other specialties will be able to receive financial support from the state in the form of a grant – money that can be used to offset the cost of a higher education contract. The amount of such assistance will depend on the results of compiling the VNO/NMT with adjustment taking into account the specialty coefficient. It is expected that this amount will be 15–50 thousand UAH. That is, some applicants will receive coverage of the entire cost of training, while others will receive; partial. The latter will study on co-financing terms.
A preferential lending mechanism will also be introduced, and the operator of issuing loans for education and their return will not be an institution of higher education, but a bank.
Graduates studying under state or regional orders will be provided with their first job. Those students whose education is paid for by the state and who have offers from employers will be required to enter into an employment contract after completing their studies. Medical students are guaranteed to receive such employment offers.
Students who have entered into an employment contract will be entitled to a special increased academic scholarship and further employment with the obligation to work for at least three years after completion of their studies.
As Ukrinform reported, on March 20, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the draft law “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine on the financing of higher education and the provision of state targeted support to its applicants.”
The purpose of the bill is to reform the system financing higher education based on diversifying the methods of financial support for training applicants, increasing the efficiency of using public funds in terms of financing state orders, targeting state targeted support, improving the mechanism for the formation and distribution of state orders.
In particular, among other things, it is proposed normalize the transition from the model of financing higher education institutions to financing higher education, in particular, through defining an expanded list of methods for such financing from the general fund of the state budget and local budgets.
