Education is one of the most important foundations of a nation’s future. Ensuring access to quality education for children is the basis of social, economic and cultural development of the country. However, during war and prolonged periods of crisis, this basic need is threatened. The reduction in the number of schools, the lack of adequate funding and the decrease in the availability of education are not just problems, but challenges that affect entire generations of Ukrainian children.
The scale of school cuts: alarming statistics
As noted lawyer Volodymyr Bogatyr, since Ukraine gained independence in 1991, the country has lost 42% of schools. At the beginning of the 1991/92 academic year, when Ukraine had just gained independence, there were 21,900 secondary education institutions in the country. They had 7.102 million students who were taught by 543 thousand teachers (an average of one teacher for 13 students). It is interesting that even in the difficult times of the 90s, the education system was developing. The highest figures were recorded in the 1995/96 academic year: 22.3 thousand schools, 7.143 million students and 596 thousand teachers.
Photo: ukranews.com
In addition, Volodymyr Bogatyr provides such alarming information. According to data for the 2023-2024 academic year, only 58% of the number of schools that existed at the time of independence (12.7 thousand) remained in Ukraine. They have 3.906 million students and 390,000 teachers, which is 55% and 71.8% of the 1991 figures, respectively. At the same time, since 2014, the statistics do not include data from temporarily occupied territories and war zones, but the tendency to decrease the number of schools and students was observed even before this period. It is interesting that from 2014 to 2022, despite the reduction in the number of schools, the number of students in them increased. More detailed dynamics can be viewed on the corresponding infographic.
Data on the number of liquidated and newly created schools, provided by the Institute of Educational Analytics of the Ministry of Education and Science, indicate significant disparities. The indicators of the 2020/21 academic year, when 249 schools were closed, and only 9 were opened, are particularly indicative.
According to Bogatyr, rural education remains a separate problem. There are traditionally more schools in the villages than in the cities (according to the latest data, by 41.3%), but the number of students in rural schools is much smaller – by 2.5 times. In addition, the quality of education in villages is often lower, which is confirmed by success rates, and the availability of education also leaves much to be desired. This is directly related to the efficient use of budget funds, due to which the closing of schools in villages is more active. In 2020/21, 27 schools were liquidated in cities, and 222 in villages. At the same time, 7 new schools were opened in cities, and only 2 in villages.
Photo: ukranews.com
As Bogatyr notes, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in the 2023/2024 academic year, the number of state and communal institutions of general secondary education across the country decreased to 12,247, which is 1,338 (or 10.6%) less compared to 2021/2022. and this decrease covered all regions.
At the same time, the number of private schools increased: in 2023/2024 there were 454 of them, which is 48 more than in 2021/2022 (406). The largest number of new private establishments were opened in the Kyiv region (+9) and the city of Kyiv (+14). Growth was also noted in Vinnytsia (+2), Volyn (+1), Dnipropetrovsk (+6), Ivano-Frankivsk (+3), Kirovohrad (+2), Lviv (+6), Odesa (+4), Poltava ( +1), Ternopil (+2), Chernivtsi (+3) and Chernihiv (+1) regions.
State and municipally owned rural schools also experienced a significant reduction: from 8,412 in the 2021/2022 academic year to 7,396 at the beginning of 2023/2024.
Reasons for reducing schools
Volodymyr Bogatyr explains that the main reasons for such a reduction are the demographic crisis, a decrease in the population and a decrease in the birth rate. These factors create a situation in which the state gradually loses the need to have a significant number of educational institutions, especially in rural areas.
“It has not yet been possible to solve the problems of rural education. The only effective way to solve these problems is often the liquidation of schools together with the problems themselves. At the same time, with the reduction of the population and the decrease in the birth rate, the need for educational services also disappears.” Bogatyr notes.
He also reminds of the guarantees enshrined in Article 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine, where every citizen is guaranteed the right to education:
“The Preamble and Article 1 of the Constitution of Ukraine define Ukraine as a democratic, social and legal state. Let’s think about what remains of this in Ukraine today.
The constitutional characteristic of Ukraine as a welfare state is, in particular, ensuring the effective realization of the rights of the country’s citizens to education, which obliges the government to implement a policy aimed at ensuring the satisfaction of the basic life needs of all social strata and population groups, and at establishing social justice in society.
The welfare state undertakes to provide every member of society with a minimum of social benefits and development worthy of a modern person. The development of the social state in Ukraine corresponds to the global trends of social development and should guarantee the most effective way of combining the foundations of freedom and power with the aim of ensuring the well-being of the individual and society, ensuring social justice and solidarity in the distribution of the results of social work. The principle of social justice is realized in particular through equal access of citizens to education.
Article 53 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to education. At the same time, complete general secondary education in Ukraine is mandatory. The state ensures its availability and free of charge.
Obviously, these guarantees work in cities. So far, it has not been possible to solve the problems of rural education. The only effective way remains the liquidation of schools along with their problems. However, with the reduction of the population in the country, the decrease in the birth rate, the need for educational services also disappears.
Volodymyr Bogatyr summarizes:
“The obvious inconsistency of the real state of education with the constitutional guarantees, the inequality in access to quality education between cities and villages has become commonplace, so counting on ourselves, we will remember Kobzar: “Study, my brothers, think, read, and learn from someone else’s, and do not shy away from your own “.
