Education Ombudsman asks the Ministry of Education to limit teachers’ participation in coercive measures
19 December 2024 09:56
Education Ombudsman Nadiia Leshchyk appealed to the Ministry of Education and Science to cancel the orders approving the holding of commercial competitions. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Educational Ombudsman, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The Educational Ombudsman believes that the first step in restoring academic freedom and reducing the workload of teachers in educational institutions is to reduce the number of events for teachers and students, as well as the compulsion to participate in these events.
The post reports that the Educational Ombudsman receives appeals and reports from pedagogical staff of educational institutions. They state that representatives of educational authorities and heads of educational institutions express demands to participants in the educational process to participate in various events, including competitions.
In addition, teachers, students, and parents are required to submit reports on their participation in these events in the form of videos and photographs published on the website and social media, as well as text documents and certificates of participation. And participation in such events is taken into account, in particular, when compiling the so-called ratings of educational institutions in communities, regions, and Ukraine as a whole.
But this, as the Education Ombudsman emphasizes, violates the right of teachers to academic freedom and overloads them.
In addition, some competitions are commercial and participants have to make a mostly fixed financial so-called “charitable” contribution to participate in them.
It is reported that the Educational Ombudsman Service is compiling a list of events, contests, and competitions in which teachers and students are forced to participate.
It was also recalled that during the meeting of the Educational Ombudsman with the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, a separate issue was agreed on cooperation on restoring academic freedom and reducing the overload of teachers in educational institutions.
