Advisor to the President of Ukraine, People's Deputy Mykola Tomenko, commenting on the initiative announced by the deputy of the Ministry of Education and Science regarding the payment of scholarships only to poor students, emphasized that such a "brilliant" idea should be stopped.

He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

"After the salary "equalization" in universities, when today candidates of sciences and doctors of sciences, associate professors and professors will receive approximately the same salary, the situation of how to survive for teachers and schools remains unclear, another "brilliant" idea appeared regarding that scholarships should be paid only to poor students. All his life, even in the conditions when the doctrine of the proletariat operated in Soviet Ukraine, the principle of success in paying scholarships was key, since the task of a higher educational institution is to prepare a specialist and educate a professional person. Therefore, the principle of success is the alpha and omega when determining and awarding scholarships," Mykola Tomenko notes.

He believes that social status can be one of the additional factors when deciding which of two students to pay a scholarship: if it can be paid to only one, then the factor of social necessity can be added to the success factor.

"Government ideas have already created social tension within the teaching corps, it remains to create chaos within the student body... In any case, such a question should be decided by more than one "clerk" (even a high-level one from the Ministry of Education). This is an issue that should be discussed with universities and experts and only after that change the rules for awarding scholarships," the President's adviser believes.