Women will be able to learn the profession of bus driver for free, - Ministry of Infrastructure

The Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine and the UN Office of Women in Ukraine agreed to implement a project to train female drivers in the field of transporting passengers by bus.

The project, entitled “Expanding the professional potential of women in the field of passenger transportation,” is a free program for developing the professional skills of women.

“In fact, this is a response to the shortage of personnel in the transportation sector caused by a full-scale invasion,” the ministry explained.

Objective of the project

Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine Sergei Derkach emphasized that the goal of the pilot project is to provide retraining and retraining of female drivers in the field of urban and municipal transport, namely buses.

“This is the first initiative of the Ministry aimed both at overcoming the shortage of personnel and at overcoming stereotypes and prejudices in professions. According to the latest data, the shortage of bus drivers in the regions is about 30%, which is about six thousand employees. I am grateful to our partners from the UN Women for support for this idea and readiness to implement this ambitious project together,” he added.

Among the key objectives of the initiative:

• creation of new jobs and opportunities for professional development of women in the field of public transport in accordance with the requirements of transport reform in Ukraine and European standards;
• expanding employment opportunities for women in the passenger transport sector;
• integration of standards for respecting women’s rights in public utilities in the field of passenger transport.

Moreover, the project also provides training for women to obtain a driver qualification card (code 95). This is a document confirming the professional competence of a bus driver according to the European standard.