FAS WILL VERIFY ACCESSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN

The antimonopoly authority is analyzing performance of the system of personified financing of additional education for children (PFAE) in regions

PFAE system began to develop in the regions in September 2018 as part of the National Project on Education. The main goal is to guarantee accessibility of additional education for children through registered certificates. I.e., families can apply for the certificates and select any activities for their kids at facilities of additional out-of-school education for children. The chosen activities will be paid for from the budget, payments shall be guaranteed with registered certificates.

The system of personified financial of additional education for children presumes equal participation of organizations of any forms of property. Therefore, families can apply to public or private facilities as well as individual entrepreneurs.

Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Social Sphere and Trade, Yulia Yermakova, said: “Although an element of competition should be present through the programme, enabling consumers to make a choice independently in favour of a particular organizations, our analysis of regulator acts, carried out by FAS in several regions of Russia, showed that budgetary funds are distributed with violations. For example, funds may be allocated only for additional municipal education, which automatically excludes participation of private companies and individual entrepreneurs in the programme. This situation is contrary to the National Project on “Education” and the National Competition Development Plan [1]”.

These restrictions of competition became a signal for FAS regional Offices to conduct inspections aimed at exposing competition-restricting provisions and norms in the regional regulatory acts on PFAE.

Reference:

[1] № 618 Order of the President of the Russian Federation “On the main directions of the state policy for developing competition”