MPs want to ban junior classes in lyceums, but there is an alternative
3 April 2025 16:25
The healthcare reform has already begun, and now the education reform is next. on March 18, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 13120 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On Complete General Secondary Education’ Aimed at Improving Mechanisms for Forming a Network of Lyceums.” However, in reality, this draft law prohibits primary school in lyceums and stipulates that communities that do not comply with its requirements will lose their educational subvention.
The draft law provides for the elimination of “general secondary education institutions of I-III levels” (from grades 1 to 11-12) and prohibits the presence of primary classes in lyceums. Only gymnasium grades 5-9 can be a lyceum, and under no circumstances can it include a primary school.
If the local authorities decide to keep the primary school in the lyceum or do not create the network of specialized classes provided for by law, the community will have to finance such an institution, as no state subvention is provided for this.
By September 1, 2025, local communities must submit plans to the Ministry of Education to form a network of communal lyceums with at least 24 and no more than 30 students in each class. In addition, according to the current law, at least two classes with three study profiles must be created.
As noted by MP Mykhailo Volynets, under the guise of “improving the mechanisms for forming a network of lyceums,” the draft law actually deprives junior students of the right to affordable education guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine. The implementation of these initiatives will lead to:
- Closure of schools, which will deprive children of the opportunity to study at their place of residence;
- Reduction of teaching staff and teachers;
- Loss of distance education for children living in the temporarily occupied territories or abroad;
- Funding only for “selected” educational institutions, while others will remain self-supporting;
- Shifting responsibility for educational institutions to communities.
MP Larysa Bilozir emphasized that the draft law, with the beautiful title “improvement of mechanisms,” actually deprives children of the right to full education at the place of residence.
“The authors’ idea is clear – it is an attempt to save money. But I am categorically against saving on children and their future. According to the draft law, high school classes should have at least 24 students, and in one school year, at least 4 classes per parallel. This means that starting in 2027, lyceums must have at least 288 children in grades 10-12, otherwise they will lose state funding. In this case, the community can keep the lyceum, but the costs will be borne entirely by the community. Most communities will not be able to afford it, and lyceums will be closed. This will not ensure the quality of education, but will only reduce access to it,” noted Bilozir.
If an educational institution does not meet these requirements, it will lose funding from the state budget. If the community wants to keep the lyceum, it will have to cover all the costs on its own.
“Only a few communities in large cities will be able to meet these requirements. Rural, settlement and even some urban communities will not be able to meet these strict criteria. As a result, children in these regions will be left without education,” believes Larysa Bilozir.
This initiative, in her opinion, can destroy access to general secondary education. In Vinnytsia region, for example, the number of lyceums is not likely to exceed a few, and all of them will be concentrated in the regional center, leaving other communities without educational institutions.
Currently, a newer and more effective law from 2021 is in effect, which has already optimized the network of lyceums by region. However, the new draft law proposed by the authors of No. 13120 violates the Constitution by restricting children’s access to education in their place of residence.
A group of MPs submitted an alternative draft law No. 13120-1 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On Complete General Secondary Education’ to Improve Mechanisms for Forming a Network of Lyceums,” which proposes to keep the number of students in classes receiving primary and basic secondary education at a minimum of 5 students.
And in specialized classes – from 24 to 30 students. If the number of students does not allow for the formation of a class, students can continue their education in this institution in one of the individual forms of complete general secondary education or in another educational institution with territorial accessibility.
In addition, changes need to be made to ensure the quality of specialized secondary education, in particular by introducing mandatory division of grades 10-12 into groups when studying subjects (integrated courses), which, in turn, necessitates raising the minimum number of students in these classes from 5 to 24 students.
One good thing is that primary schools can be retained even if there is a minimum number of students, and children will not have to travel tens of kilometers or switch to individualized education.
Author: Alla Dunina
