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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to nearly halve funding for equipping shelters in schools, kindergartens, and universities in 2027. This was stated by Member of Parliament Yurii Pavlenko, commenting on the draft State Budget adopted in the first reading. According to him, a large share of educational institutions still do not have full-fledged protective structures, even though children spend most of their time there.
The draft State Budget of Ukraine for 2027 provides for a nearly twofold reduction in expenditures for equipping shelters in educational institutions. This concerns schools, kindergartens, universities, and colleges.
MP Yurii Pavlenko drew attention to this problem while commenting on the draft state budget adopted in the first reading. In his view, the funding cut could negatively affect the safety of children and students, since far from all educational institutions are equipped with full-fledged protective structures.
“Anyone who deals with the operation of educational institutions understands that most of them do not have full-fledged shelters. At the same time, it is there that children, especially students in 1–3 grades, spend the majority of their time,” Pavlenko emphasized.
How many educational institutions have shelters
The problem of providing educational institutions with protective structures remains relevant despite the gradual installation of new shelters.
Earlier, Koretskyi stated that as of 1 September, 83% of schoolchildren and over 82% of kindergarten attendees were provided with shelters.
Meanwhile, the situation in institutions of higher and professional pre-higher education is more complicated: the rate of shelter provision in universities and colleges is only 68%.
These figures indicate that a significant portion of participants in the educational process still need access to adequate protective structures. Younger schoolchildren remain a particularly vulnerable category, as they spend a large part of the day in educational institutions and require appropriate safety conditions.
Why the funding cut causes concern
Equipping shelters involves not only renovating basement premises. It means creating a safe space that must meet established requirements, provide the necessary capacity, and allow children and staff to stay there during air raid alerts.
For many schools, kindergartens, and universities, such work requires significant capital investments. Without proper state funding, communities and institution leadership will find it harder to complete ongoing projects and equip new protective structures.
At the same time, the draft State Budget-2027 has so far passed only the first reading, so its financial figures may still change during further consideration in the Verkhovna Rada.
Earlier, StopCor wrote that the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading the draft State Budget of Ukraine for 2027 with expenditures of 7,27 trillion hryvnias, nearly 4,9 trillion of which are planned to be allocated to defense and security. The document also provides for higher salaries for servicemen, a minimum wage at the level of 9546 hryvnias, and a projected dollar exchange rate of 47,1 hryvnias. The final budget is planned to be adopted at the end of November, so some figures may still change.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Школи, садочки та університети можуть недоотримати кошти на укриття: що заклали в бюджет-2027". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: NARDEP 24.
