The Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Education, Science and Innovation recommended canceling the awarding of gold and silver medals in state-style schools. About this reported secretary of the committee, People’s Deputy Nataliya Pipa.
According to her, the number of medals has increased in recent years, but this is happening against the background of significant educational gaps and a decrease in the level of knowledge of school graduates due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and war. She noted that the practice of awarding such medals remains mainly in post-Soviet countries and is an outdated relic.
Abolition of medals will save budget funds. Instead, successful graduates of the school can be recognized with other awards determined at the local level.
According to the data of the educational ombudsman, in 2023 the state spent 1.8 million hryvnias on the purchase of 21.3 thousand medals, and in 2022 – 1.77 million hryvnias for 20.6 thousand medals.
Previously, receiving the medal provided certain privileges when entering higher education institutions, but now these privileges have been canceled. However, the medals remain valid for admission to professional (vocational and technical) educational institutions.
Office of the Education Ombudsman notes, that medals do not provide any real benefits, but serve only as a moral encouragement for students and a symbol of achievement. However, there is a problem when some parents and school leaders perceive medals as an indicator of status, which is not always confirmed by the real knowledge of graduates, which is revealed during external examinations.
The practice of awarding medals is not widespread in European countries and is mostly preserved only in post-Soviet states. In the Soviet Union, medals were first introduced in schools in 1945.
