In the end of May, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on inclusive education, which opens up new opportunities for teaching children with special needs. It is an extremely important direction that needs the efforts of both the state and society. In Ecopark, we arrange various educational, rehabilitation and entertaining events for children with special needs on a regular basis, and I am glad that the authorities have also decided to pay attention to this issue.
Formally, it was not a specific law, but an amendment to the framework law “On Education.” And it is a good moment to assess the condition of the course of reforms in the field of education. On October 6, 2016, the Parliament supported the new framework law on education in the first reading; however, the law taken as a whole has never been passed. The MPs don’t know the current state of the bill’s revision, while more than 8 months have already passed since the voting.
The reform of education is a topic of a special, deep analysis, but now, I would like to dwell on one aspect, which concerns educational specialists the most and without which it is impossible to keep at a really high level. The matter is in their remuneration.
I often criticize the initiatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, however, the new law on education introduces a really important standard – to ‘fix’ the basic salary of educational specialists at the level of three minimum wages. I am sure that without similar steps, it is just impossible to regain prestige of the profession of school or university teacher. However, I’m afraid that it was mainly this aspect that made the law ‘falter’ and prepare for the second reading for so long: when the Ministry developed the law, they were guided by one size of a minimum wages, and it increased twice since that time.
It is extremely disadvantageous for the image of the authorities to remove this clause and backtrack, but the state is just not ready to pay at least UAH 9,600 to all teachers now. And the latest interview of the Minister even contained the alarming messages that the law may be passed soon, but the complete introduction of the reform will be extended to 2030.
Instead of setting the salaries of educational specialists by law, the authorities ‘manually’ increase their salaries. It is not bad, but not enough. However, it should be noted that not everyone obtains the increased salaries. The statements like “the salary of all educational specialists increased by 50% in 2017” conceal manipulation. The wage rise concerned the secondary school, while it was almost imperceptible in kindergartens, technical schools and, what is especially absurd, in higher educational institutions.
University teachers, who are occupied with not only the pedagogic, but also scientific activity, earn less than school teachers. With this attitude, Ukraine risks losing the most talented specialists, the intellectual elite that will be readily welcomed abroad. Our scientists are really appreciated on the global market; but during the last 25 years, it seems that all countries except Ukraine understand it.
In the question of reforms, time is as important as money. For more than three years, the authorities talk about the crucial importance of reforms in various fields, including education. And the education system really needs reformation, because essentially, during the last decades, we have used the resources of the old school, however, they are not endless.
It is impossible to say that the pace of reforms is satisfactory, as during three years, even the framework law hasn’t been passed, the field-specific ones (on the system of higher education, on the secondary school, etc.) haven’t even been developed, and the expected terms of introduction are postponed to 2030. Every lost year, every day of delay would result in huge losses for the future of our country.
Either Ukraine invests in this future – in science and education – or we have to tolerate the resource-based economy and poverty during the next decades. Although, I am convinced that, with our intellectual potential, Ukraine can offer not only sunflower oil and iron ore to the world.
