The Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, together with the Ministry of Education and Science, will launch in 2021 courses with scholarships to prepare applicants from the Temporarily Occupied Territories for admission to Ukrainian universities, Deputy Minister Inna Drahanchuk said.

"We agreed that on a competitive basis a list of 25 higher educational institutions will be formed, on the basis of which a pilot project is launched in 2021-2022. It is planned that children who will enter Ukrainian universities through the educational centers 'Donbas-Ukraine' and 'Crimea-Ukraine,' will have the opportunity to be enrolled in preparatory courses, which, among the measures for academic and psychological integration into the Ukrainian educational and social space, will provide for scholarships and free accommodation in dormitories," Drahanchuk said in an exclusive blitz interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

It is expected that courses in this format will begin on the eve of the Constitution Day of Ukraine and will last until the start of the educational process at universities, approximately for two-two months and a half.

According to Drahanchuk, after completing these courses, applicants from the temporarily occupied territories will be able to enroll according to a simplified system in any of 195 institutions of higher and special higher education classified under the control of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Approximately 500 to 750 people are expected to enroll in the preparatory courses in 2021.

"I draw your attention to the fact that these calculations are very approximate, since there are almost no basic initial data for such calculations. I also want to remind you that the aggressor country is doing everything to make it impossible for young people living in the temporarily occupied territories to enter Ukrainian universities - propaganda and discrediting the efforts of Ukraine, psychological pressure and persecution of families to the physical restriction of leaving those territories," said the Deputy Minister.

Answering the question, how much budget funds are needed for the introduction of such a pilot project in 2021-2022, Drahanchuk noted that UAH 130 million are provided for the program "Reintegration of Youth from Temporarily Occupied Territories" courses.

According to preliminary estimates of the ministry, the cost of training one person in preparatory courses will be from UAH 8,000 to UAH 13,000 per month, taking into account the scholarship, hostel costs and the cost of the training itself, however, the exact figure can be called only after official calculations from universities.

"Answering the question of who exactly should and will be responsible for organizing and conducting preparatory courses for applicants from the temporarily occupied territories, it would be logical to answer the Ministry of Reintegration, since, in addition to the formal appointment of our department, we are the managers of budgetary funds provided for the reintegration of youth from those territories. But is it possible to organize this process autonomously without the Ministry of Education? No, it isn't. The conditions for joining are the exclusive powers of the Ministry of Education and Science, as evidenced by the relevant regulatory legal acts. In addition, most of the higher educational institutions are subordinate to the Ministry of Education," Drahanchuk added.