NON-STATE ACTORS IN EDUCATION
2.2 Non-state education provision
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
- Early childhood care and education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Primary and secondary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Tertiary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
According to the Law on Education (2017), an educational institution in Ukraine may operate as a state, communal, private or a corporate one (article 22). Private institutions are those established under the private ownership (article 10). The term is used in relation to both institutions and individuals - private entrepreneurs - carrying out educational activities (article 22). While private institutions might be for- and non-profit, private entrepreneurship is defined by the law On Entrepreneurship as a provision of for-profit services by individuals and legal entities (article 1). The status of a corporate educational institution implies that it is based on the principles of public-private partnership (hereafter PPP) and a mixture of state and non-state financing and ownership (Law on Education, article 81). The Law on Education stipulates that educational institutions might be founded by state authority, community, physical person(s) or legal entity, including registered religious organizations (article 14). Educational process can also be organized by parents in the form of family (home) education (article 9).
2.1 State education provision
State schools
According to the General Secondary Education Act, complete general education consists of three levels: primary (4 years, starting from age 6; ISCED level 1), basic secondary (5 years, ISCED level 2) and field-specific secondary (3 years, ISCED level 3) education. The Constitution of Ukraine (article 53) states that complete secondary education is compulsory, and the state ensures its free provision in state and communal educational institutions. It might be obtained in institutional (intramural) or individual forms (extramural).
Non-state managed, state schools
No information was found.
Non-state funded, state schools
While there are no specific non-state funded state schools, public educational institutions in Ukraine are allowed to receive funds from other sources, including voluntary contributions and fees for the provision of educational and other services (General Secondary Education Act, article 19:6).
2.2 Non-state education provision
Independent, non-state schools
Private schools are the most common type of non-state institutions providing general secondary education in Ukraine and double in the past five years to 282 private schools (1,86%) in the country with 40435 students (0,98%) enrolled. The majority of private schools are located in urban areas, primarily in large cities.
Many private schools offer some form of a specialized curriculum. As of 2019/2020, there were 28 gymnasiums (schools corresponding to ISCED level 2 and 3 with in-depth studies of individual subjects), 32 lyceums (ISCED level 4, with profile education and pre-professional training) and 74 educational complexes combining educational institutions of different types and levels.
While state and communal schools are secular, private schools can be established by religious organizations. The Law on Education, article 31, entitles such organizations to define the religious focus of their educational activities. In 2016 there were 12179 schools in Ukraine established by religious organizations, of which 8 provided general secondary education (of which 3 Catholic, 2 Seventh Day Adventists, 2 Jewish schools, 1 Orthodox).
No data on tuition fees, curricula and funding sources of private schools were found.
State-funded (government-aided), non-state schools
No information was found.
Contracted, non-state schools
No information was found.
2.3 Other types of schools
Homeschooling
According to Law on Education, family (home) education in Ukraine is legal. Article 9:7 defines home education as a form of obtaining formal (preschool, basic secondary and full secondary education) and (or) informal education, when the educational process is organized by parents. Parents must ensure that education provided at home meets the state educational standards. Outcomes of home education are assessed in the same way as in educational institutions.
Externship
Individuals are entitled to master educational programs completely independently. Even in this case, evaluation of learning outcomes and awarding qualification is performed in educational institutions (article 9:6).
Market contracted (Voucher schools)
No information was found.
Unrecognised/Unregistered schools
No information was found.
According to the Law on Education (article 5), education policy is defined by the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine and implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science and other central and local executive bodies. Bodies of local self-government and Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, district, city and village councils are responsible for the implementation of national education policy and quality assurance. They are also entitled to establish, reorganize and dissolve institutions of preschool, secondary and professional (vocational) education (article 66).
According to the Law on Education (article 22:7), educational institutions of all forms of ownership have equal rights and duties. The equal status of public and private institutions before the law is also enshrined in the law On Public-Private-Partnerships (article 3). The Law on Education guarantees the autonomy of educational institutions (article 23), which is defined as the right to self-government, independence and responsibility in making decision on academic (educational), organizational, financial and other issues within the limits of the law (article 1).
Higher education institutions (HEIs), both public and private, are governed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science, local branches of state bodies, authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, founders of HEIs and public self-government bodies, and the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (Higher Education Act, article 12).
Vision: Education in Ukraine is regulated by the Law on Education and special laws, including laws Preschool education Act, General Secondary Education Act and Higher Education Act.
The government supports the development of private educational institutions. The Ministry of Education and Science is planning to introduce preferential tax terms for establishing private preschools and create conditions and mechanisms for budget financing of higher education by 2024. In the longer term (2021-2031), the government is also planning to introduce mechanisms of public-private partnership in higher education.
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
In Ukraine, institutions of ECCE are referred to as preschools. Preschool education covers ages 1 to 6is non-compulsory, although the Law on Education (article 11) stipulates that children of the upper preschool age (i.e., 5-6 years) must be involved into preschool education at educational institutions or in the form of family (home) education. The responsibility for obtaining preschool education rests with parents.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine (article 53) the state is obliged to ensure the free provision of preschool education in state and communal educational institutions.
In 2019, 58% of all children in preschool age (1-6) received preschool education in educational institutions. There were 14763 thousand preschools (with 1230,4 thousand children), of which 204 (1,4%) of private ownership with 9502 children enrolled (0,78%).
Registration and approval: To ensure the accessibility of preschool education, the Ministry of Education and Science considers it necessary to expand the network of private preschools by 2024, by means of liberalization of requirements for establishing and operating a private preschool institution. For more information, see Multi-level regulations.
License: See Multi-level regulations,
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: In accordance with the Tax Code (article 197.1.2.), the provision of paid educational and care-giving services at institutions of preschool education is exempted for taxation. This applies to services provided both within and above the volume established by the curricula and educational programs. (See also Primary and Secondary Education). The Ministry of Education and Science is planning to expand the network of private preschools by 2024 by establishing preferential payment for the rent of premises.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: Article 7 of the Law on Education guarantees the right to receive preschool education in the language of the national minorities and indigenous peoples along with the official state language. This right can be realized in municipal institutions of preschool education in separate classes (groups). For more information, see Multi-level regulations.
Teaching profession: According to the Preschool Education Act (article 32) teachers of preschool educational institutions, regardless of type and forms of ownership, must pass certification every five years. The terms and procedures for certification are determined by the Standard Provision on Certification of Pedagogical Worker in Ukraine.
Fee-setting: The Preschool Education Act (article 37) says that regardless of ownership, institutions of preschool education can receive funding from state and local budgets, parents and guardians, voluntary donations and targeted contributions of individuals and legal entities and from other sources not prohibited by law. For further information, see Multi-level regulations.
Admission selection and processes: See Multi-level regulations.
Policies for vulnerable groups: According to article 19:6 of the General Secondary Education Act, preschool education of persons with special educational needs is provided at the expense of educational subventions, state and local budgets or other legal sources.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Reporting requirements: No additional information was found.
Inspection: See Multi-level regulations.
Child assessment: No information was found.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
Registration and approval: See Multi-level regulations.
Licence: See Multi-level regulations.
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): No information was found.
Profit-making: General Secondary Education Act states that both state and non-state educational institutions of primary and secondary education are guaranteed financial autonomy and are entitled to receive funding in different forms and different sources, and to generate profit from the provision of educational and other services (articles 78 and 79). Moreover, schools are allowed to acquire property and non-property rights, to own funds and have accounts in financial institutions and public sector banks (article 31).
Taxes and subsidies: Ukraine has recently adopted the “money follows the child” principle of education funding. The formula for calculating per-capita subvention is determined and annually revised by the Cabinet of Ministers. The same formula is applicable to private and corporate institutions that are licenced and accredited by the state (General Secondary Education Act, article 58:2). The amount of subvention varies depending on a number of criteria such as level of education, geographical location, presence of students with special needs, etc. Private and corporate educational institutions must distribute public funds in the same manner as prescribed by law for state and communal institutions (General Secondary Education Act, article 24:3). In accordance with the Tax Code, regardless of the type of ownership and funding sources institutions of preschool, primary and secondary education do not pay taxes on buildings (article 266.2.2), public land (article 284.3) and have other tax benefits (282.1.4). It should be noted that tax deduction applies to legal entities but not to private entrepreneurs.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and educational standards: According to article 10 of the Constitution, the Ukrainian language is the state language of Ukraine and the state ensures its development and functioning in all spheres of societal life. It also guarantees free development, use and protection of Russian and other languages of national minorities. However, in the Law on Education, article 7, the Russian language is not mentioned. The law guarantees people belonging to a national minority to receive primary education in a state, municipal or corporate educational institutions in the respective national minority language along with the state language (paragraph 5). General secondary and specialized secondary education is to be provided by the state, municipal and corporate schools in the Ukrainian language in the amount not less than 80% of the annual study time (paragraph 6).
Private institutions that provide secondary education at the expense of individuals and (or) legal entities have the right to freely choose the language of instruction (except for educational institutions that receive public funds). They are, however, obliged to ensure that students master the state language in accordance with the state standards (article 5, paragraph 10). For more information, see Multi-level regulations.
Textbooks and learning materials: The General Secondary Education Act (article 4) guarantees free provision of textbooks (including e-textbooks) for all students receiving general secondary education. According to the resolution On free provision of textbooks and teaching materials, textbooks recommended for general secondary education are selected by the MES on a competitive basis. A list of selected textbooks, including electronic textbooks, is updated annually and published on the website of the Institution of Education Content Modernization. Recommended textbooks are published and distributed at the expense of the state budget (General Secondary Education Act, article 58:3). For electronic versions of textbooks, the MES has created a special Internet resource. Finally, to meet the licensing requirements educational institutions must have a library and provide students with textbooks (or their electronic versions) and other learning materials.
Teaching profession: According to paragraphs 76 and 77 of the resolution On Licensing of Educational Activities (2015/2018) teachers are required to have higher education (no lower than a masters’ degree) in the corresponding subject(s) of teaching. The General Secondary Education Act encourages teachers to constantly improve their professional and pedagogical skills (article 54). On a voluntary basis, teachers may also pass the certification, which is an external assessment of professional competencies performed by means of independent testing, self-assessment and review of the teaching experience (article 51). The certification procedure is performed by establishments authorized by the state. For more information, please, see Multi-level regulations.
Corporal punishment: Corporal punishment is forbidden by the Law on Education. In particular, article 53 stipulates that students are entitled to protection from any form of violence during the educational process. Article 54 states that teaching staff must protect students from any form of physical and psychological violence.
Other safety measures and COVID-19: No information related to COVID and non-state actors was found.
Fee-setting: See Multi-level regulations.
Admission selection and processes: See Multi-level regulations.
Policies for vulnerable groups: No information was found.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
School board: According to the General Secondary Education Act, the requirements to a head of non-state educational institutions are different than those to a head of state schools. While the head of a state or municipal school must be a Ukrainian citizen who is fluent in the state language and has no lower than a master’s degree and no less than three years’ experience of pedagogical work, heads of private and corporate schools are exempted from these requirements (article 38, paragraph 1). Paragraph 2 of Article 38 stipulates that a person who has a criminal record may not hold the position of the head of a school. Article 39 says that the head of a private or a corporate education institution is elected and appointed by the founder(s) in accordance with local statutory documents.
Article 28 of the General Secondary Education Act stipulates for public self-government at educational institutions, which means that participants of the educational process (i.e., teachers, students and parents) have a right to participate in public supervision and collectively decide on issues concerning the educational process. In addition, article 29, provides for a creation of a supervisory board (board of trustees) constituting of persons who are not directly involved in the educational process. Such boards of trustees are entitled to decide on developing strategy, attract additional sources, evaluate the activities of the school head and control budget implementation.
Reporting requirements: No additional information was found.
School inspection: The main body responsible for monitoring and assuring the quality of primary and secondary education is the State Service of Education Quality. It also performs accreditation of educational programs.
In addition, the General Secondary Education Act (article 41:4) stipulates for a system of external quality assurance can be performed by independent institutions. It also provides for public supervision (control) in education, which can be performed by public associations and other civil society institutions. Public supervision agents are entitled to a) initiate research, b) monitor learning outcomes, including the results of final assessment and exams, c) take part in public debate and perform public expertise of (the drafts) of textbooks (article 71). For more information, see Multi-level regulations.
Student assessment: External independent assessment of secondary education focuses on learning outcomes which are measured primarily by means of a national External Independent Test (Law on Education, Article 47).
Diplomas and degrees: See Multi-level regulations.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
According to the Law on Education (article 10), the system of tertiary education in Ukraine consists of several levels, including junior bachelor (short initial cycle), bachelor (first level), master (second level) and Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Arts (third level). Institutions of higher education may be state, communal and private (Higher Education Act, article 19). In accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine (article 53) the state ensures free provision of higher education in state and communal educational institutions on a competition basis.
In 2019/2020 there were 619 higher education institutions (hereafter HEI), of which 504 were public and 115 were private or corporate (18,6%).
Registration and approval: According to the Higher Education Act (article 31) the decision of the establishment, reorganization or liquidation of a private HEI is made by individual and/or legal entities, including religious organizations, which are registered in the manner prescribed by law. Foreign actors are also entitled to establish a HEI, but this is subject to permission of the Ministry of Education and Science. Such HEIs may operate only under condition of obtaining a licence.
Licence: See Multi-level regulations.
Profit-making: According to article 27 of the Higher Education Act, HEIs may operate as budgetary institutions, non-profit institutions or for-profit. For more information, see Multi-level regulation.
Taxes and subsidies: According to the Tax Code, tuition fee paid by any legal or natural person for obtaining higher education is not considered taxable income (article 165.1.21).
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: When it comes to the language of instruction, a HEI has the right to provide one or several disciplines and examinations in English, but must provide a translation into Ukrainian upon a written request from one or more students (Higher Education Act, article 48). The Law on Education (article 7:2) requires HEIs to ensure the mandatory study of the state language in the amount that allows performing a professional activity using the state language. For more information, please, see Multi-level regulations.
Teaching profession: See Multi-level regulations.
Fee-setting: See Multi-level regulations.
Admission selection and processes: Admission to HEIs is competition-based (Higher Education Act, article 44).
Policies for vulnerable groups: No information was found.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Board: The Higher Education Act (article 27) stipulates that in private HEIs the structure, composition, procedures of establishment and powers of governing bodies, as well as the procedures for electing and appointing heads may be determined by the institution’s charter and may differ from those envisaged by the law for the state-owned HEIs.
Reporting requirements: No additional information was found.
Inspection: In the field of higher education, the main body of quality assurance is the National Agency of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (On Higher Education, articles 16 and 17). It is also responsible for the accreditation of educational programs (article 18). The Agency consists of 23 persons appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, who are selected on a competitive basis from representatives of HEIs of state-owned, communal and private ownership (article 19). Fore more information, see Multi-level regulations.
Student assessment: No information was found.
Diplomas and degrees: See Multi-level regulations.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
3.2 Multi-level regulations
This section covers pre-primary education to tertiary education.
Registration and approval: In Ukraine, educational institutions can be established upon a decision and at the expense of its founder(s), i.e. a public authority on behalf of the state, a respective council on behalf of a territorial community, a physical person or a legal entity (Law on Education, article 1:7).
In case of reorganization, the founder is required to provide students with the possibility to continue their education. The law also provides a possibility for founders to transfer institutions into communal or state property (Law on Education, article 14).
Licence: Private and corporate educational institutions must meet the same licensing requirements as state and communal ones. The licensing bodies are designated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Law on Education, article 45).
According to article 43 of the Law on Education, licensing conditions are stipulated separately for each level of education and are formed with due regard to persons with special educational needs. The licensing conditions and requirements are listed in the resolution No 1187 of the Cabinet of Ministers On Licensing of Educational Activities (issued in 2015, amended in 2018) and concern employees’ competences, infrastructure, material and technical equipment, teaching materials necessary to meet the state standard for the appropriate level of education.
In accordance with the latest amendments to the Law on Education a licence cannot be granted if a founder of a private or corporate institution is a person, who is a citizen in a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada as an aggressor state, or an organization registered in and (or) financed by such state. The licences issued before this amendment must be revoked (article 43:5).
Profit-making: The Law on Education (article 22:2), stipulates that educational institutions in Ukraine may operate on state-funded, non-commercial and commercial basis. To enjoy the rights and privileges of educational institution envisaged by the Law on Education, the main type of activity must be educational activity, i.e., if educational activity amount to more than half of the total income (article 22:1). As mentioned earlier, educational institutions are guaranteed financial autonomy (article 23).
Article 30 of the Law on Education requires educational institutions to provide a list of educational and other services, their cost and procedures of payment on their official websites.
Taxes and subsidies: In accordance with the Tax Code (article 197.1.2.) institutions of higher, vocational, secondary education do not pay taxes for the provision of educational services for which they have a licence. (See also ECCE and Primary and Secondary Education).
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: According to the licensing requirements, mentioned above, curricula of educational institutions in Ukraine must be developed in compliance with the state standards. These standards are created in accordance with the National Qualification Framework and contain requirements to mandatory competencies and learning outcomes, determine study load and other aspects of the educational process at each level of education (General Secondary Education Act, article 32). The National Qualification Framework is based on the European and national standards and labor market requirements and is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (article 35).
In addition to the state standards, private and corporate schools have a right to increase the number of subjects and/or study hours at the expense of own revenues if such extension meets the requirements of sanitary legislations (General Secondary Education Act, article 11:7).
Teaching profession: The founders of private and corporate educational institutions have a right to independently determine the terms and procedures for recruiting teachers (General Secondary Education Act, article 22:2) and to establish other sizes and conditions of remuneration, salary and assistances of teachers than those envisaged by the law for state educational institutions (article 61).
Fee-setting: The size and terms of payment for study and (or) additional educational activities in Ukraine are determined by educational institutions and individual entrepreneurs themselves (Law on Education, article 79:5). Institutions that have a licence are required to provide information on tuition fees on their official website (Law on Education, article 30). Once an agreement between parents and school is signed, tuition fees can be changed no more than once a year and only in accordance with the officially established inflation level (article 79:6).
Admission selection and processes: The procedures and requirements for admission to private and corporate institutions are to be determined by the head of the institution and approved by its founder(s). The selection of students can be performed on a competitive basis (Law on Education, article 18).
Policies for vulnerable groups: In accordance with the Law on Education, the founder(s) of an educational institution must prevent discrimination on the grounds of race, skin colour, political, religious and other views, gender, age, disability, ethnic and social origin, family and proper status, place of residence, language or other attributes (article 25).
The Law also states that the provision of education for children with special needs is financed at the expense of state and local budget. The state transfers the amount of funds to the educational institution selected by parents (article 78:9).
According to the Tax Code (article 166.3.3.) parents are entitled to a tax deduction to compensate the amount of funds paid to domestic institutions of preschool, general secondary, vocational (technical) and higher education.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Board: Management of an educational institution is stipulated by laws and statutory documents and is performed by its founder(s), head, collegial governing body, collegial body of self-governance and other bodies (Law on Education, article 24). In particular, the law stipulates for the establishment of council of students, council of parents and other councils of participants of the educational process (article 28).
According to the Law on Education (article 25:2), the founder may delegate its rights and duties to the governing body of institution and/or to the supervisory board (board of trustees). The head of an educational institution must be fluent in the national language and have higher education (article 26:2).
Inspection: Ukraine has an extensive output-oriented system of quality assurance, which includes institutional audit, external independent assessment (see Primary and Secondary education), internal and external quality monitoring and public accreditation of educational institutions (Law on Education, article 39). The institutional audit aims at a comprehensive evaluation of educational and administrative processes and is performed routinely by the State Service of Education Quality (Law on Education, article 45). According to the Law on Education (article 50), public accreditation serves to ensure the compliance of school curriculum to the state standard and the capability of institutions to ensure the achievement of outcomes envisaged in the curriculum. Accreditation is voluntary and is carried out at the initiative and at the expense of its founder. Accreditation of educational programs can be performed by the state bodies (see regulations for each level) and/or accredited non-governmental associations and legal entities (article 50:3).
Diplomas and degrees: In accordance with the Law on Education (article 18), the procedure and requirements for admission, expulsion and transfer of students to private and corporate educational institutions are determined by their founder(s). The right to issue state-recognized graduation certificates and award qualifications is reserved for institutions that have a licence to carry out educational activities (article 18:3).
Sanctions: The Law on Education (article 45) states that in case of non-compliance of the educational activity of the educational institution with the legislation and licensing conditions, “the body conducting the audit shall determine the term for elimination of deficiencies and violations in the work of the educational institution. After the expiration of the specified term the check of results of elimination of the corresponding lacks and infringements is carried out. In case of negative results of such inspection, the founder of the educational institution may be given recommendations on changing the head of the educational institution, termination or reorganization of the educational institution”.
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
Private tutoring is a widespread phenomenon in Ukraine, the demand for which has increased by 60% during the COVID. However, like in most other post-Soviet countries it remains largely unregulated.
Reducing the demand for private tutoring is one of the strategic goals for the development of general secondary education which according to the Ministry of Education and Science should be achieved by 2030. For that, schools should have adequate resources to provide individual assistance to students.
No information was found.
Financial operation and quality
No information was found.
The Law on Education allows teachers to engage in individual educational (and other) activities outside of the institution (article 54). the Ukraine government requires tutors to be certified every five years (Ukraine Parliament, 2000).
This profile was drafted by Tatiana Mikhaylova.
