“School Starter Kit” Can Also Be Used to Purchase Books

Today, October 1, new changes to the “School Starter Kit” state program have come into effect. The one-time assistance of UAH 5,000 can be spent not only on stationery, children’s clothing or footwear, but also on books.

Parents can use these funds at any point of sale throughout Ukraine where a payment terminal has an MCC code (Merchant Category Code) that meets the conditions of the state program:

5641 – children’s clothing;

5651 – clothing for the whole family;

5661 – shoe stores;

5943 – stationery;

5942 – bookstores;

5192 – books, periodical publications and newspapers.

To make it easier for parents or other legal representatives of first graders to find stores where they can make purchases, an online dashboard is available on the website of the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine. The dashboard includes retail outlets across Ukraine where the payment can be used and has already been updated in line with the new terms of the program.

The number of applications for assistance has exceeded 200,000. Most families submitted their applications through the Diia mobile app (176,000), while almost 24,000 families applied through the service centers of the Pension Fund of Ukraine. More than 168,000 families have already received the payment, and the total amount of funded assistance has exceeded UAH 856 million, which accounts for almost 70% of the program’s total budget.

Applications can be submitted until November 15, 2025. To learn how to apply, please follow the link. The funds must be used within 180 days after they are transferred. Cashless payments can be made both online and offline.

As a reminder, a new service is now available in the Diia app — applying for basic social assistance.

The project is implemented on the initiative of the President of Ukraine and developed by the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and Diia, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Pension Fund of Ukraine, supported by the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine within the DIA Support project that is implemented and funded by Sweden, Swiss-Ukrainian DECIDE Project – ‘Decentralization for Improved Democratic Education’, which is being implemented in Ukraine by consortium within the public organization DOCCU and the Zurich University of Teacher Education supported by Sweden.

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