The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has announced the expansion of the “Money Follows the Teacher” pilot project — a mechanism for financing the professional development of educators, which is one of the key tools for supporting teaching staff within the implementation of the New Ukrainian School (NUS). According to RBC-Ukraine, citing the MON press service, new categories of educators will be able to join the mechanism, and separate tracks for advanced training and professional development will also be introduced. According to the ministry, under the pilot, more than 38,000 educators have already received funds for advanced training.
What Is “Money Follows the Teacher”
According to MON representatives, the mechanism changes the very approach to professional development: instead of a single set of training for everyone, a teacher is given the opportunity to independently choose programs that match their needs and the specifics of their work. The ministry emphasized that teachers had to master the new NUS approaches while working under wartime conditions, distance and blended learning, forced displacement, and educational losses, which made flexibility in choosing a development trajectory especially important.
New Categories of Educators and Separate Tracks
From September 2026, even more educators will be able to independently choose advanced training programs on the “Vector” platform within the pilot. A separate track of professional development is provided for social pedagogues — “socio-pedagogical support and mechanisms for protecting children's rights.” Thus, the state is expanding the coverage of the mechanism to include specialists whose work is directly related to the protection and support of students.
Ukrainian Education Abroad
The changes also affect Ukrainian citizens teaching in educational activity entities outside the country, where children study school subjects or integrated courses of the Ukrainian studies component. MON clarified that there are currently more than 120 such verified centers, and called this the next logical step in state policy regarding Ukrainian education abroad. For such educators, a separate track is provided within the pilot — organizing the educational process in overseas educational centers that ensure the study of the Ukrainian studies component.
The “Vector” Platform and Participation Conditions
As of early September 2026, more than 153,000 users are registered on the national platform for the professional development of pedagogical and scientific-pedagogical workers, “Vector.” A practical guide to working on the platform is available online, as instructed by MON. According to RBC publications, the grant amount for advanced training is 1,500 hryvnias per pilot participant.
Extension of the Registration Deadline
Another important change is the extension of the registration deadline for participation in the pilot. As the ministry reported, the government made the corresponding decision: amendments to the Procedure provide for extending the previously set deadline from August to October. This gives educators additional months to submit an application and choose programs on the “Vector” platform.
