Minister of Education and Science Serhii Shkarlet said that during a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport, EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said that the EU was currently focused on ensuring the sustainability of the European educational space and national education systems in times of crisis.
Mariya Gabriel stressed that in recent years Europe has been hit by two major crises – the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s 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 EU Member States, we have been able to respond quickly to existing challenges through coordinated action, Erasmus+ program and access to online educational content.
The European Commissioner noted that she managed to mobilize the capabilities of the Erasmus+ program. In particular, part of the funds will be directed to projects to help Ukrainian refugees.
Mariya Gabriel also proposed new concrete measures to support Ukrainian education and science.
In particular:
€ 200 million from the Erasmus+ budget for 2027 is reallocated to 2023 to support Ukrainian students and teachers next year;
€ 25 million is earmarked for scholarships for Ukrainian researchers through a new initiative under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – 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.