The purpose of this project is to secure a future for 100 Ukrainian students by helping them get into university through our 9-month preparatory program.

In Ukraine, students who score high enough on the national entrance exam (NMT) can study at a public university for free for 5 years. Given Ukraine’s urgent need for highly qualified professionals to rebuild the country, these students will succeed in life and be able to care for others.

Learn how the project works, what it costs, and how you can help.

Why This Matters

In Ukraine, a student who scores high enough on the national entrance exam can study at a public university for free for 5 years. Because of the war, many Ukrainian teenagers may never reach that point.

The Problem

War has made normal learning almost impossible for many Ukrainian teenagers. Air raid sirens interrupt lessons. Schools keep switching between in-person and online learning. Teenagers live under constant stress, instability, and exhaustion.

Many parents have lost their homes and jobs, now live in poverty, and cannot afford tutoring for their children. Some students stayed in Ukraine only because their parents had no money to leave the country. Many have also lost a parent in the war.

Failing to score high enough, these teenagers risk losing their future. Ukraine will urgently need highly skilled professionals to rebuild after the war. Without higher education, they will not qualify for that work.

Another problem is that many Western donors focus on “feeding the poor” while overlooking a more strategic need: education. This project is for those who care about lasting change.

A special category of youth

Many high school students and prospective university applicants dream of higher education but cannot adequately prepare for admission. Among them are:

• children of veterans and military personnel;
• children who lost a parent during the war;
• orphans;
• children from rural areas;
• children from low-income families and other similar social categories.

Problems addressed by the project

This youth faces various challenges—local, psychological, and social—that the project aims to resolve.

Local problems:

• Lack of funds to pay for tutors or specialized preparatory schools;
• Low grades in Ukrainian language, making university admission impossible;
• No access to high-quality education or highly qualified teachers;
• Inability to afford paid online preparatory services for the NMT (National Multi-Subject Test);
• Lack of educational resources necessary for proper preparation.

Psychological problems:

Apart from financial and educational challenges, this youth experiences a range of psychological issues:

• elevated anxiety levels;
• feelings of guilt and shame;
• low self-esteem;
• catastrophic thinking (“I will never achieve anything in life,” “Without higher education, I am nobody”);
• frequent depressive states;
• apathy (loss of motivation and desire to act).

National-level problems:

Ukraine’s recovery from the destruction caused by Russian military aggression requires:

• highly qualified professionals;
• a generation of energetic, productive, and competent leaders capable of changing the country for the better;
• young professionals with innovative thinking.

When motivated youth are deprived of opportunities for self-realization, the state loses its most valuable asset—human potential.

Social consequences:

Young people who are unable to achieve their first major goal—admission to a higher education institution—due to circumstances beyond their control (financial difficulties, loss of one or both parents, etc.) often resort to anti-social behavior and degrade.

Positive impact of the project

Join the project that will improve the lives and destinies of 100 children from socially vulnerable categories. The project will have the following positive effects:

• One hundred motivated children aspiring to higher education will fulfill their dreams.
• These children will gain access to quality education and the best teachers.
• Literacy levels will increase by at least 37%.
• Students will achieve high scores on the NMT in Ukrainian language.
• They will enroll in their desired higher education institutions.

Instead of wasted years, this youth will gain a successful future. These boys and girls will acquire modern professions and become self-sufficient, supporting their families. The country will receive a new generation of energetic, highly qualified professionals essential for post-war recovery.

Project budget

Project duration: 9 months.
Budget: 2.7 million UAH.

Budget structure:

• Monthly cost per student: 3,000 UAH;
• Duration of preparation: 9 months;
• Total cost per student: 27,000 UAH;
• Total number of students: 100;
• Total project cost: 100 students × 27,000 UAH = 2.7 million UAH.

The project cost includes the following:

• Development of the methodology and preparation program for the NMT in Ukrainian language for this social category;
• Planning of the educational and training process;
• Daily administration of the project throughout the preparation period (9 months) and an additional month before and after;
• Engagement of qualified teachers;
• Formation of groups (at least 10 groups with a maximum of 10 students each to ensure quality preparation);
• Internal communication among group members, instructors, and administrators;
• Attendance tracking;
• Performance monitoring for each student;
• Organization of interim and thematic testing to identify gaps and promptly correct them;
• Provision of learning materials;
• Provision of teaching resources, including visual aids, to enhance comprehension of theoretical material;
• Access to modern EdTech resources to facilitate and accelerate grammar learning.

Project implementation

The project will involve the best specialists and partners:

• Educational component: The uMOVA.online learning center, led by G. K. Dmytrenko, a senior methodologist, textbook author, and contributor to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, will handle methodology development, program design, and teaching.
• Selection process: The partner organization GoFriends IT Academy, under the leadership of Yevhen Moiseiev, will select 100 motivated children. Moiseiev, a former orphan who overcame challenges to establish an IT company and school, brings unique expertise in working with socially vulnerable groups.
• Administration: The Ukrainian School of Elites will fully oversee project administration, operational tasks, quality monitoring, communication, and reporting.

How to support the project

You can support the project with any amount. Together, we can change the world for the better, giving a future to 100 Ukrainian high school students and prospective university applicants.

Cost breakdown:

• Monthly preparation for one student: 3,000 UAH.
• Full 9-month preparation for one student: 27,000 UAH.

Support one, two, ten, or even all of our students to contribute to the mission of forming a generation of competent, successful leaders who will rebuild Ukraine.

Due to the combined attack carried out by the Russians on August 26, 2024, against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and the implementation of emergency power outages (as explained by journalists from “Kyiv24.News” — “The lights went out during the live broadcast” and “Facts” — “What is blackout“), most parents registered for the free webinar “How to Guarantee Your Child’s Preparation for the State Assessment in Ukrainian Language,” scheduled for Monday, September 2, 2024, were unable to attend due to the blackout.

At the same time, the need for parents to understand what awaits their children before entering higher education institutions in Ukraine in 2025, particularly concerning the mandatory subject “Ukrainian Language,” remained urgent and unresolved.

In response to this need, volunteer educators from the Ukrainian School of Elites, in collaboration with the uMOVA training center, organized an additional webinar for parents concerned about their child’s university admission and the specifics of the Ukrainian language exam.

The expert for the meeting was Halyna Kononivna Dmytrenko, a highly qualified teacher-methodologist and head of the department at the Troyeschyna Gymnasium in Kyiv, while the moderator of the event was young linguist Yuriy Prokopenko. Participation in the webinar was free.