In 2025, some schools in Ukrainian villages may be closed to improve the quality of education and optimize the number of educational institutions. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Education, writes UNN.
Details
From September 1, 2025, it was decided not to finance the salaries of teachers in schools with fewer than 45 students from the educational subvention, and from September 1, 2026 — fewer than 60 students. This decision does not apply to primary schools and will only apply to education at the 5-11 grade level
The ministry emphasizes that all school-aged children have been added to the calculation of the educational subvention for each community. This means that the community will receive funds for the education of all children, but will not be able to spend them on small schools.
Thus, local self-government bodies can decide: either to transport students from these schools to the nearest larger school, or to pay the salaries of teachers in small schools from local budgets.
The Ministry of Education also stated that such a decision to improve the quality of education for students from villages in Ukraine was already made in 2016. However, at that time, it only concerned schools with fewer than 25 students.
As explained by the Ministry of Education, in schools of I-III degrees with fewer than 45 students, children do not receive an adequate level of interaction with each other, do not learn from each other, and do not see examples to follow.
This is because in such schools, 5-6 students study in one class, and children study individually or in combined classes (primary school) that combine students of different ages.
In addition, such schools are usually not fully staffed with teachers. Also, teachers often cannot accumulate enough hours in their specialized subject to receive a sufficient salary, so in such schools, there is a practice of assigning some subjects to non-specialized teachers.
Therefore, the government's decision should encourage local self-government bodies to transport children to larger schools that are staffed with teachers, technically equipped, etc.
Addition
In addition, according to the international study of educational quality PISA-2022, students from villages lag behind their urban peers by 4.5 years in terms of learning outcomes. That is, it takes them 4.5 years to acquire the same knowledge and skills as students of the same age from cities.
Similar results are shown by ZNO (NMT): last year, the average score of students from villages in Ukrainian language was more than 6 points lower than that of students from cities; in mathematics — more than 8 points; in the history of Ukraine — almost 3 points. The results of students from villages in other elective subjects are also lower.
At the same time, while showing lower quality, rural education costs the state more. The state spends an average of 30.4 thousand hryvnias per year on the education of one student from a village, and 24.4 thousand hryvnias in a city. In some villages, the cost of educating one student reaches more than 51 thousand hryvnias. This is due to the need to maintain and pay salaries to employees of a large number of schools with few students. That is, education in villages costs more, but does not justify these funds with quality.
What will happen to the students of these schools?
The Ministry of Education says that local authorities should organize the transportation of children to a hub school. Children on such trips should be accompanied by a teacher.
For the transportation of children, the state has been allocating a subvention for the purchase of buses for the second year in a row — 1 billion hryvnias. Last year, in co-financing with local budgets, more than 450 buses were purchased.
A hub school is a school where children from different settlements within a radius of up to 30 kilometers are brought. It is larger, staffed with teachers, and better equipped. Thanks to larger class sizes, a teacher can organize various learning formats, such as project work.
At the same time, primary schools with fewer than 45 and fewer than 60 students will continue to receive state funding.
The Ministry of Education is confident that primary school should be as close as possible to the child: if older students can manage the journey to a hub school, it will be difficult for young children.
What will happen to the teachers of these schools?
If local self-government bodies decide not to finance the operation of a small school independently, it is possible to employ teachers in hub schools with transportation provided.
Why will the decision take effect on September 1, 2025?
Changing the school network requires time for discussion with the community, decision-making, and ensuring transportation to hub schools. The government gives communities time to prepare for this.
Recall
The Cabinet of Ministers merged two research institutions and one educational institution with leading universities in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Lviv to strengthen university science and resources.