“Embroidery is not armor”: Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi and the Ministry of Education received a barrage of criticism instead of festive likes

This year’s celebration of Vyshyvanka Day for the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine turned out to be a mirror of deep public dissatisfaction. The post of Minister Oksen Lisovyi published on his public Facebook page, had everything for standard government etiquette: a photo with the team, a solemn tone, patriotic content.

The signature was exemplary stylized:

“An embroidered shirt is not a wardrobe item. It is our intangible asset.
Method of identification “own / foreign”.
An element of our identity.
The resonance of vyshyvanka aesthetics with European tradition is another evidence of our European cultural belonging.”

However, the celebratory tone quickly melted under the pressure of comments. Instead of approving the photo, the reaction of Ukrainians turned out to be completely opposite, and this is a unique case when all the comments were critical. They had neither greetings nor aesthetic compliments. All without exception criticized the ministry and its head. People wrote about real problems in the field of education: the cancellation of funding for small rural schools, the lack of a comprehensive strategy for educational reform during the war, chaotic decisions regarding distance learning, underfunding of inclusive education and the decline of the vocational training system, etc.

Some of the most common leitmotifs were: “Embroidery does not replace work”, “Kind words are not a budget for schools”, “As long as you embroider, teachers survive”, “Identity is not only clothes, it is also access to education”.

Here is a selection of comments under Oksen Lisovoy’s post:

Yuriy Panasiuk:
“Even an embroidered shirt will not cover an empty soul. Do something understandable with education, otherwise this industry, under your sound leadership, will cut down the oak tree.”

Oleksandr Chernokon:
“Finally, we saw someone to “thank” for endless courses, meaningless programs and methodological recommendations, contests, competitions, flash mobs, photo reports, three grades… beggar salaries… and for tea without sugar in school canteens.”

Myroslava Pigur:
“We are destroying education – in a patriotic way!”.

Olena Kryvtsunova:
“Holiday! The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science has been working on it, and there are almost no positive comments. It’s a shame. How many workers! Why don’t you respond to petitions, appeals?”.

Tetyana Moskalenko:
“Norms on closing rural schools with 45/60 students are patriotic! Such a crime of destruction of the Ukrainian village cannot be covered with a single veil! Think!!!”.

Olya Ul’ko:
“At least Lisovoy understands what a salary of 7,000 hryvnias is? Bring back the prestige for the teacher that he had before! Everything that is necessary and not necessary has been hung on the teacher! Let him remember that the teacher also has his own children and his personal life!”.

Yuri Lukshits:
“There are embroideries, so you can steal them.”

Mykola Hladyuk:
“Destroying education by wearing an embroidered shirt is cynicism of the highest level.”

Burns Angela:
“My mother is dear, the house is dark. What a pile of ministerial crap. There is no way around it, nor to remove it with a bulldozer. But you have to stick to the vyshyvanka. You dressed like that for the funeral of education? Do they have anything to buy a vyshyvanka… Salaries of 100 thousand! … and teachers…”.

Olesia Hunchyk:
“Sales hypocrites who destroy education — that is, the future of Ukraine. Is it not a shame to wear embroidered shirts?”.

Nina Gordy:
“We saw how many… useless cabinet paper workers receive a salary and lose their education.”

Svetlana Nikiforuk:
“Give teachers a normal salary!!!
You inhumans are godless and not merciful!
They sin when they reduce teachers and close schools.”

Alla Alla:
“Education has never had such chaos and humiliation as now. MES, who are you????”.

Leonid Berezovsky:
“Publicist-plagiarist! Destroyer of Ukrainian education!”

Lyubov Panasiuk:
“People worthy of wearing an embroidered shirt are now wearing a pixel.”

Olga Shevchenko:
“Give peace to education, we have already lost everything that could be lost.”

Roman Sergienko:
“Covering contempt, violation of the Constitution of Ukraine and the constitutional rights of citizens, covering it up with a veil… This is not patriotism.”

Anatoly Skulinets:
“Shame on the ministry, which has not done anything useful for the people or the students.”

Lidia Babiuk:
“Darmoids… vermin… idiots…”.

This reaction is not just an emotional “Facebook attack”. This is a symptom of a tired but active civil society, which criticizes the Ministry of Education and Culture for ineffective actions and the destruction of education in Ukraine. And this is the first time in recent years that even on symbolic days, the state structure does not receive an indulgence for patriotic visuality. Society sends a clear signal: beautiful slogans and photos are good, but they cannot exist instead of action. In the case of the Ministry of Education and Culture, this request sounds especially loud, because education is the foundation of survival in war conditions, no less than defense or diplomacy. And that’s why society’s reaction to the festive post was so uncompromising.

Communicatively, the fast was supposed to be a way to demonstrate unity and national resilience on a symbolic day, but the lack of even a hint of recognition of the crisis in the education system itself made it a sham. This case may go down in the history of digital communication of government bodies as an example of an unexpected but completely logical failure. Because we are not talking about hate and manipulation, but a reasoned, accurate and absolutely unanimous reaction of society.

The outpouring of criticism is an unprecedented first for state-level posts on the symbolic day. This is a sincere reaction of educators, parents and concerned citizens who did not see any sense in the revealing photo, instead openly declared about the systemic destruction of education.