News: “Laptop for every teacher”: The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine have created a project dashboard where everyone can monitor tenders’ transparency.

This year, the Ministry of Digital Transformations and the Ministry of Education and Science are implementing the initiative “Laptop for every teacher”. Within the framework of the initiative 60 thousand teachers will be provided with laptops. UAH 980 million was allocated from the state budget for the purchase of the equipment.

The Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov writes about this in the column Zhyttya of Ukrainian Pravda.

There is quite a lot of scheming in public procurement of equipment in the field of education. For example, creating special requirements for computers that can be met by only one supplier of equipment, or prescribing certain programs in technical documentation (e-textbooks or learning management systems). This allows to maximize the cost of computers, as well as eliminates competitors during a tender.

Laptops should be modern, equipped with camera, efficient processor and have the ability to connect to the network via cable or Wi-Fi. To avoid the purchase of low-quality equipment and monopolies, the Ministry of Education and Science has set clear requirements for computers and tenders, which will help to avoid significant corruption risks. Also, joint recommendations to the tender requirements were provided, where, in particular, the expected cost is set at UAH 20,000. The price is calculated in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Economy № 275.

“Various targeted subventions are allocated from the state budget every year, but it often happens that communities don’t make full use of them. For example, some of them are only half used. Others - even less. It is important that if the regions don’t spend the subvention this year, it will not remain in their budget for next year and they will not be able to use it for something else, ”Fedorov mentionned.

To prevent corruption and make the procurement process as transparent as possible, the Ministry of Digital Transformation team has created a public dashboard. This is an interactive map of Ukraine, where everyone can control how regional state administrations use the provided opportunity and at what price they buy equipment.

Computers will be purchased by all 24 regions and the city of Kyiv. The laptops will be distributed according to the number of students in the area. In April, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution approving the procedure and conditions for the distribution of the subvention. Tenders will be announced and held during July-August, and teachers will receive laptops by the end of the year.