Reducing the number of academic scholarships to 15%, the Ministry of Finance encourages mediocrity among the students of Ukrainian universities

Recently, the Ministry of Finance has announced a gradual reduction in the number of students receiving academic scholarships up to 15% in 2020 from the current 40%.

According to the State Treasury during 12 months of 2016 there was 129 billion UAH of educational expenses from the Consolidated Budget, that amounts 5.7% of GDP. This is a big part of government expenses, which is mainly spent on the social sphere, including pensions. We should note that countries that have received EU membership have been spending on the average 4.9% on education over the past 15 years. In Ukraine, the share of expenses on higher education is 1.6% of GDP, and in the European Union – 1.1%. GDP indexes and public cost estimates in the European countries are of course much higher than in Ukraine, so, in terms of absolute figures, expenses in the EU countries are much higher, and more effective.