In Ukraine, the duration of the summer holidays has been reduced and the school school year has been extended
Education in Ukraine after 2022 has ceased to be something stable and predictable. Parents, teachers, school administrators, and most importantly, the children themselves found themselves in a situation of constant adaptation. Curricula are constantly changing, lessons are postponed, canceled or held in shelters. For some students, interruptions of classes due to air raids, distance lessons from shelters, mixed learning or complete evacuation to other regions or countries have become common. In some communities, schools work in several shifts, in others they are still completely remote due to the risk of shelling. That is why the government approved the new framework of the academic year.
Reduction of summer holidays
The current situation requires a review of traditional approaches to the structure of the academic year. In the conditions of the war, it became obvious: the classic schedule of vacations and lessons does not correspond to the realities, when children can lose weeks or even months of education due to force majeure that does not depend on either the school or the family. In accordance with by resolution Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 841 of July 23, 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science approved the new framework of the academic year. The last bell in most schools is scheduled for May 30, 2025, but the educational process itself will continue throughout June – up to and including the 30th. The full-fledged summer vacation will begin on July 1 and last until August 31.
Thus, the traditional three summer months of rest are reduced to two. This decision is explained by the need to compensate for educational losses that occurred due to the unstable situation in the country.
We are not talking about a full study load during the whole of June in the usual mode. This month should become a period of catch-up, liquidation of academic debt, preparation for exams, work with individual plans of students. All schools will have the right to independently organize this period – taking into account the situation in the region, the number of missed classes, the capabilities of students and teachers.
It is expected that June will become a kind of “buffer period” for schoolchildren, in which they will focus not so much on learning new material, but on consolidating and practicing what they have already learned – taking into account the breaks associated with:
– frequent air alarms;
– local quarantine measures (especially in winter);
– spontaneous schedule changes or postponement of holidays.
Because of the war, the spring break schedule in 2025 was determined by the educational institutions themselves or by the relevant local education authorities. In part of the regions, the vacation took place at the end of March, other schools provided a week’s rest from April 16 to 23. There were also cases when the vacation actually did not take place – instead, self-study days or flexible online lessons were held. This approach is forced and reflects the general principle of educational policy in the conditions of war: flexibility, autonomy, adaptability.
Does it have an effect?
The extension of the school year is not a formality, it is a real attempt by the government to compensate for the losses that accumulate every day under conditions of regular shelling, evacuations and infrastructure violations. Some students could not complete the program completely or found themselves in a situation of partial loss of contact with the educational process. In such conditions, June becomes key for stabilizing the year’s results, preparing for exams, and completing key topics.
For teachers, this is an additional burden, for parents – a logistical challenge, but for the state – the only realistic answer to a situation in which every child should get the opportunity to finish the year not only “on paper”, but with knowledge that will be tested, clarified and completed at least within the minimum limits of the program.
Shortening the summer holidays is not an initiative “against children”, but a step dictated by the circumstances of the war. The Ukrainian school functions in conditions that are more like a survival mode than a stable educational process. That is why the extension of the year is an attempt to adapt, to recognize real challenges and to find solutions within the limits of what is possible.
