“Ukrainians will be able to obtain IT education for free,” Digital Transformation Ministry

Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine said that the government is working to increase the share of our country’s IT GDP to 10%. However, this requires many new professionals to be trained. Therefore, the Digital Transformation Ministry together with international partners are launching a new educational project called “IT Generation”.

He made this statement during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform.  

“It is the issue of education that should be given more time. Over the past six months, we have developed an algorithm for the development of IT education — what specifically needs to be done to meet the demand and provide for all the needs. The reform of IT education includes many stages: a change in approaches to the study of computer science in schools, a change in the approach to the management of universities when it comes to the (information) technology, the introduction of new specialties and other stages,” — the Minister said.

According to Mykhailo Fedorov, at the first stage it is planned to train a thousand Ukrainians in IT specialties. These include not only development, but also management and design skills. At the second stage, about 2,000 Ukrainians will be trained. Then it is planned to train 30-40 thousand citizens for free.

 “The essence of the project is that we choose the best schools, online and offline, give them the opportunity to accept applications from Ukrainians, who have not worked in IT, and to hold an interview. After that, our partners will pay for 100% of the training costs for Ukrainians who have passed the interview and will be able to work in the most progressive field,” — he said.

In order to become a student in one of the schools, a person must be inexperienced and without a profession in the field.

“We are helping Ukrainians who have lost their jobs, as well as developing online education,” —  the Minister of Digital Development said.

Oleksandr Borniakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine in charge of IT development said that the architecture of the project is built in the following way: at the first stage schools are selected, it will take two weeks. Then the eligible educational institutions will be announced on the project website, only then will students be able to submit their applications.

“Qualification of a student who has submitted an application is verified at an educational institution and only the educational institution decides whether the student can study there. At the funding stage, the partner company provides a grant to pay for this education,” — Oleksandr Borniakov said.

James Hope, USAID Mission Director in Ukraine noted that the IT sector in Ukraine is quite strong and stable, so the Mission decided to allocate funding to pay for this type of education for Ukrainian citizens.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news