World Bank allocates almost $100 mln in emergency support to higher education in Ukraine
The government of Ukraine and the World Bank have decided on emergency assistance in the field of higher education in the amount of almost $100 million, which will allow the payment of academic scholarships for 172,000 students and social scholarships for 50,000 students of scholarship programs in the 2021-2022 academic year, the World Bank said on Friday night.
"With a new component, the Ukraine Improving Higher Education for Results Project (a joint project of the Ministry of Education and Science and the World Bank) provides funding of almost $100 million to reimburse the government's budget program in the higher education sector," the bank said.
"The ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine has brought untold suffering to Ukrainian families. Many of them lost incomes and are unable to support the education of their children. Academic and social scholarships are a much-needed additional source of income for students, especially those from lower-income families and help preserve Ukraine’s human capital for its reconstruction and development," the report reads.
"These scholarship programs will also help ensure access of students to basic needs and services, ultimately contributing to continued enrollment and improved learning outcomes," Arup Banerji, World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe, said.
"Last week, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a financing package for Ukraine, called Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine – or FREE Ukraine – resulting in total mobilized support of $1.025 billion until now. It helps the government provide critical services to Ukrainian people, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for the vulnerable," the report says.
"This financing is part of a $3 billion package of support for Ukraine in the coming months, and there will be additional support to neighboring countries receiving Ukrainian refugees. According to UNHCR, since the onset of the invasion, almost 3.2 million Ukrainians – primarily women, children, and elderly – have fled to neighboring countries. Medium and long-term support will be needed for the provision of public services, both for refugee and host communities, and labor market access for refugees," it reads.