18.3% of the planned number of textbooks were not delivered to schools - MP

The Ministry of Education and Science failed to properly provide textbooks to schoolchildren. In particular, children with special educational needs did not receive textbooks, said the head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, Serhiy Babak, writes UNN.

Details

As of September 15, textbooks for 8th grades, unfortunately, have not yet been delivered in full. The percentage of delivery from the total planned quantity for both systems directly to educational institutions was 81.7%

He added that last year the Ministry of Education introduced a new accelerated delivery mechanism through the IKOM system. Babak said that it cost the state an additional 8 million hryvnias, but the expected result was not achieved.

Starting from 2024, in the Committee, we return to the issue of textbook delivery once a quarter: we discuss all blocks, their causes, and propose solutions for planning. But every year the result is constant - textbooks are not delivered to educational institutions by the beginning of the academic year. To the question of whether this situation will change next year, we received an answer yesterday at the meeting - no

Textbooks for children with special educational needs were also not delivered to educational institutions. According to Babak, even the relevant agreements were not concluded. In addition, not a single textbook in Braille was delivered.

Babak also informed that the Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science in terms of textbook supply as unsatisfactory.

At the meeting, the Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science in terms of providing textbooks in 2025 as unsatisfactory. The new delivery mechanism, for which additional funds are spent from the state budget, requires urgent revision

According to the Committee's decision, the following steps have been taken:

• by November 1, 2025 - the Ministry of Education must provide the Committee with a report on the effectiveness of the new textbook delivery mechanism (as required by CMU Resolution No. 676);
• by December 1, 2025 - the Ministry of Education and Science must submit an action plan to prevent delivery disruptions in the 2026/2027 academic year;
• monthly by the 1st - the Ministry must inform the Committee about the delivery of textbooks for children with special educational needs (including Braille).

Addition

The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, stated that as of September 1, institutions in the "New Ukrainian School" system had already received 88% of textbooks, and the rest are undergoing accounting procedures and will be delivered by September 15.

Despite all the challenges associated with the war - shelling, alarms, power outages and logistics, 100% of textbooks were printed by July 30. As of September 1, 84% have been accepted by schools, which is more than in previous years, even with smaller volumes. Today, this figure is 88%... the rest are in the final stages of accounting procedures, which will last until September 15.