Educators once again rank at the bottom of the salary list: Parliament issues a strong statement
7 May 05:54
Education in Ukraine remains one of the sectors with the lowest average wages. The Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation called this situation a disgrace and called for a systematic review of approaches to teacher compensation. This was stated by Yulia Grishina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s Education Committee and a member of parliament, while commenting on data from the State Statistics Service regarding salary levels in various sectors of the economy, reports "Komersant Ukrainian"
The State Statistics Service of Ukraine released data for March 2026: the average salary in education is 19,394 UAH. After taxes, it is just over 15,000 UAH. This officially ranks last among all sectors of the economy.
For comparison:
- Information and telecommunications sector — 85,673 UAH.
- National average — 30,356 UAH.
According to the State Statistics Service, the education sector remains among those with the lowest average salaries in the country.
This sparked a sharp reaction from the Verkhovna Rada’s Parliamentary Committee on Education.
Yulia Grishina stated that this situation is unacceptable, since it is teachers who work with the country’s future—children and youth.
“This is a disgrace. No exaggeration. For years, education has been funded on a residual basis, and we see the result. We cannot talk about the country’s development while the people who hold our future in their hands are thinking about survival. Our common task is to pull education out of this anti-ranking,” Grishina noted.
Why teachers’ salaries remain a problem
Low pay for teachers is one of the most pressing problems in Ukrainian education. Because of this, the teaching profession is losing its prestige, young professionals are reluctant to enter the field, and experienced teachers are often forced to seek additional income.
Among the main consequences of low salaries in education are:
- staff turnover in schools;
- an aging teaching staff;
- a shortage of young teachers;
- professional burnout;
- decreased motivation;
- inequality between regions and communities;
- declining prestige of the teaching profession.
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The Rada discusses the need for systemic changes
The MP noted that in drafting the 2026 State Budget, the Verkhovna Rada, together with the Government, identified education and science as the second priority after defense and provided for a phased increase in teachers’ salaries: by 30% starting January 1, and another 20% starting September 1, allocating a record 64.6 billion hryvnias for this purpose.
Yulia Hryshyna emphasized that the issue of teachers’ salaries cannot be resolved with isolated measures. According to her, systematic work is needed at all levels of government—from the central government to local communities.
“For salary increases to actually take place, priorities must be clearly defined at all levels of government. This approach must also be applied at the community level—only then will pay gaps, both among educators and in comparison with other professions, gradually narrow,” the MP noted.
Gryshyna also expressed hope that the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine will propose a new solution regarding the system of remuneration for educators.
This is not just about a formal pay raise, but about changing the approach to funding teaching. Such a reform should become the foundation for real change in the sector.
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