The Ministry of Education and Science discriminates against Ukrainian children abroad and IDPs and pushes them out of public education: Pavlo Sushko

In recent years, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) has been at the center of constant criticism – both from politicians, educators and parents. This criticism is not speculative in nature, but is based on specific decisions that are increasingly perceived by society as harmful. The problem lies not only in individual reforms, but in the general trajectory of the ministry’s actions, which is increasingly moving away from the mission of supporting and developing education, instead reducing, simplifying and limiting access to it. All levels of education are affected: from preschool to high school, from general secondary to art. The situation with Ukrainian children of IDPs and those who ended up outside Ukraine due to the war is becoming particularly acute. The MES does not just ignore their educational situation, but only worsens it. People’s deputy of Ukraine, deputy head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, Pavlo Sushko, believes that the recently published order of the Ministry of Education and Culture No. 1112 discriminates against Ukrainian children based on their place of residence.

Pavlo Sushko believes, that order No. 1112 of the Ministry of Education and Culture clearly lays down a discriminatory approach:
students who are in the territory of Ukraine study all subjects and courses provided by the educational program, including optional components. Instead, only certain integrated courses are provided for children who are abroad. According to the deputy, this approach is a form of limiting access to full-fledged Ukrainian education.

“Order No. 1112 of the Ministry of Education and Culture provides for the following: the distance learning curriculum provides for the study of:

• students who live (stay) in Ukraine, all educational subjects (integrated courses), compulsory for study, selective (by the students’ choice) educational components provided by the educational program of the educational institution;
• students who live (are) outside of Ukraine, separately
• educational subjects (integrated courses) provided by a typical education
• program for the education of children who left Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and are receiving education simultaneously in the educational institutions of the host country and Ukraine, approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

With this, the Ministry of Education and Culture actually limits the access of children who were forced to go abroad to a full-fledged Ukrainian education. Who gave such a right to the Ministry of Education and Culture is unknown.” – emphasizes Sushko.

According to him, the Ministry does not have any legal right to deprive Ukrainian children abroad of access to education, and it is unclear on what basis it took on such a function. In reality, such an approach means that children lose the chance to receive a systematic Ukrainian education, to prepare for the NMT, and remain outside the educational context of the country to which they seek to return.

Sushko draws attention to the fact that the ministry ignores key aspects — in particular, the fact that in many countries where Ukrainian children are staying, there is no requirement to study in local schools. That is, in such cases – and they are not unique – the child remains without education at all: on the one hand, he does not study in the host country, on the other hand, he does not have the opportunity to receive a full-fledged Ukrainian education due to the restrictions established by Order No. 1112.

The position of the Ministry of Education and Culture is justified by the argument that it is difficult for children to study in two schools at the same time. But Sushko emphasizes: no one forces you to study in two schools. It is the right of parents to choose whether parallel education is needed, to what extent, whether the child has the strength, motivation, need and opportunity. Instead, for a significant part of families, this is not only an opportunity, but also a conscious choice. Someone is planning to return and does not want to lose contact with the class, someone sees distance learning in Ukrainian as a better quality of teaching complex subjects, someone is focused on entering a Ukrainian university, for which it is necessary to prepare for the NMT and have a full-fledged education, not fragments of courses.

According to the MP, the mission of the Ministry of Education and Culture should be the opposite — to support these children, not to lose them, not to break their educational trajectories, but to flexibly adapt to new conditions. And such flexible formats have indeed already appeared in some schools that offer education in the second shift, adapt schedules, and approach families individually. However, instead of encouraging such practices, the ministry creates barriers. This situation looks especially dangerous for graduates who, being abroad, would like to enter a Ukrainian university on the budget. Without systematic education, they simply do not have this opportunity. And then they have a choice: either not to return, or to refuse Ukrainian higher education. This is not only a human tragedy, it is an educational and state disaster.

Pavlo Sushko summarizes: in its current form, the policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture looks as if the ministry is deliberately pushing children out of the state education system. In fact, paid online schools are the only option for obtaining a full education. People’s deputy asks the question: what to do with those who cannot pay? He believes that this is already open social discrimination. He believes that the right to education should be guaranteed regardless of the child’s country of residence. And only parents, not officials of the Ministry of Education and Culture, should decide whether children need Ukrainian education and in what form.

“The right to access to Ukrainian education must be preserved – regardless of where our children are. The illegal orders of the Ministry of Education and Culture must be canceled.” – summarizes Sushko.