Finland to support Ukrainian education sector reform

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio on Tuesday announced Finland’s pledge to support the Ukrainian education sector reform and to grant humanitarian assistance.

The Minister, who made a visit to Kyiv also signed a framework agreement on a mixed credit instrument between Finland and Ukraine, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release.

Tavio attended the meeting of the International School Meals Coalition in Kyiv and met Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksii Kuleba, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko, and Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.

Representatives of Finnish businesses in the area of education and civil defence and of the Chamber of Commerce EastCham Finland also attended the ministerial meetings.

“Finland is continuing its strong, comprehensive support to Ukraine and can thus respond to Ukraine’s acute and long-term needs. Rebuilding Ukraine is a substantial effort. Finnish companies have a great deal to offer, and we are supporting their participation in the reconstruction through various financial instruments,” said Tavio.

Tavio delivered the opening speech at the meeting of the international School Meals Coalition and shed light on contributory factors in the success of Finnish school meals.

At the meeting, Finland announced that it supports the World Food Programme’s (WFP) school meals programme in Ukraine by EUR 500,000 in 2024. In the academic year of 2023–2024, the WFP helped nearly 700 schools in Ukraine to serve a total of 5.6 million hot meals to some 90,000 primary school pupils.

Additionally, Finland supports humanitarian work by allocating EUR 8 million in funding for the Ukraine operations of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Currently, nearly 15 million people in Ukraine need constant humanitarian assistance. Due to damages to the energy infrastructure, Ukrainians are expected to face the hardest winter yet since the war started. Humanitarian needs are growing especially on the frontline.

Tavio signed a framework agreement on a mixed credit instrument, Finland–Ukraine Investment Facility (FUIF), between Finland and Ukraine. The new mixed credit instrument can generate investments worth EUR 50 million in 2025–2026 for supporting investment projects that Ukraine considers important.

The instrument is part of Finland’s national reconstruction plan for Ukraine. The aim is to support Ukraine’s public sector investments that are in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and that make use of Finnish products, services, expertise and technology.

Finland will support Ukraine's education sector by EUR 20 million in 2025–2028.

The bilateral project between Finland and Ukraine will focus on implementing the general upper secondary education reform. The project has been prepared in cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The project will support the overall development of Ukraine’s education system.

The general upper secondary education reform will also involve developing the student welfare system and responding to pupils’ psychosocial support needs caused by the war. The project will take account of gender equality, the rights of persons with disabilities and access to general upper secondary education for vulnerable groups.

Education is one of the priorities of Finland’s development cooperation in Ukraine, and it promotes Ukraine’s convergence with the EU. The project continues Finland’s long-term cooperation in Ukraine. Finland has supported the Ukrainian education sector reform since 2018.