Lack of teachers, ridiculous salaries, lack of textbooks: the director of a Kyiv lyceum talks about the problems of Ukrainian schools
3 October 2025 19:21
Ukrainian schools today lack professional teachers of science. This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by Vitalia Polyakova, a teacher with over 30 years of experience and principal of Kyiv Lyceum #109.
According to Polyakova, for decades, Ukraine has emphasized the humanization of education, while the exact sciences have been neglected.
“For 30 years, we talked only about the humanization of education, and we said that a humanitarian is good, and we forgot about mathematics. And mathematics is not only about justice, it is also about logic, thinking, the formation of many areas of activity, and so on. But no one talked about it,” the teacher said.
She adds that a few decades ago, applicants were eager to enter pedagogical universities. The best ones went there. Today, the situation is radically different.
An equally painful issue is the level of teachers’ salaries, which is extremely low
. According to Polyakova, this makes the teaching profession even less attractive.
“Teachers’ salaries are actually ridiculous. And when our country announces that there will be an additional payment of one thousand hryvnias or one thousand three hundred hryvnias, it sounds humiliating from their lips, at least I would say,” she said.
Another problem is language. In particular, because of the large number of displaced children from Russian-speaking regions, Polyakova said. She added that she always advises teachers to avoid conflicts with such children by using softer methods instead of direct remarks.
“Just repeat the phrase that the student said in Ukrainian and add – did I understand you correctly? And that’s it, the question is off the table. You don’t give the student a grade in any case,” she explained.
Vitaliia Poliakova is the principal of Taras Shevchenko Lyceum #109 in Kyiv, located in the Pechersk district of the capital. She also holds a PhD in Psychology (2018) and is a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Psychodiagnostics and Scientific and Psychological Information at the H.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.
on September 2, 2025, Polyakova found herself at the center of a public outcry when she did not allow students to attend class because they were wearing shorts. This incident became a topic of discussion in the media and among the parent community.
Vitaliya Polyakova is currently on vacation and is expected to return to work after providing appropriate explanations in accordance with the law.
