TUESWU Statement True Recognition of Education as a Priority Sector Is the Basis for the Country's Recovery and Development

The Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine, taking part in the All-Ukrainian Educational Conference "August 2024", supports its theses that "Education moves the world", "Education is the state's strategy", "Sustainability is for the resilient people".

Their content and implementation are provided by hundreds of thousands of resilient teachers, lecturers, scientists and other educators who share their knowledge, experience, love and dedication to education with children. Despite all the risks, explosions, air raids, loss of loved ones, they are the ones who, in the current difficult conditions of war, are able to calm, motivate, teach, support, who have to be resilient, protecting children in educational institutions and saving them and themselves from danger in shelters.

One of the slogans of the All-Ukrainian Educational Conference is "Honest Talk about Education," which, in particular, requires a frank conversation about the government's attitude to teachers and the evaluation of pedagogical work in these difficult, challenging conditions. And how does the state actually evaluate our resilient teachers?

Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine "On Education" has been in force for 6.5 years now, and it guarantees that the state will set the salary of a teacher of the lowest qualification category at 4 minimum living wages starting from January 1, 2018, and 3 minimum wages starting from January 2023, and each subsequent category will be at least 10% higher. The lowest salary of an educator is guaranteed to be 25% higher than the salary of the lowest category educator, and each subsequent salary is guaranteed to be at least 10% higher than the previous one.

During this period, the guarantees stipulated in Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine "On Education" remain unrealized. Despite the categorical disagreement and opposition of the trade unionists, the Government annually postpones the Resolution No. 822 of 10.07.2019.

Today, the lowest salary for a teacher, including a 10 percent increase in accordance with Government Resolution No. 22 of 2018, is UAH 6,080 (132 euros), and for a young teacher who has graduated from a university and just started working in a school or kindergarten, it is UAH 6,923 (150 euros). This is even lower than the minimum wage, which will be UAH 8,000 (173 euros) starting in January 2024. Only a teacher or educator of the highest qualification category with a long work experience has a wage of UAH 8805 (191 euros).

Therefore, it will be fair for pedagogical and scientific-pedagogical workers to recognize as a state debt the amounts of wages they have not received since 2018, taking into account 4 sizes of the cost of living, and from January 1, 2023 - taking into account 3 sizes of the minimum wage, as provided for in the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, and to legalize this by the relevant Law of Ukraine.

Given the martial law and the need for budgetary funds for the defense of the state, we believe it is appropriate to consider the possibility of paying off the debt by restructuring it and paying it off after the war, using various financial mechanisms for its repayment.

Any references by the Government to the lack of funds in the State Budget to increase the salaries of teachers due to martial law are null and void, given the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (Suk vs. Ukraine, Kechko vs. Ukraine), in which the Court emphasizes the unacceptability of non-compliance with the provisions of the current law due to lack of funds in the budget.

We declare that only real recognition of education as a priority sector is the basis for economic development of society, creating preconditions for comprehensive modernization of the state on European principles, and will help to retain and attract highly qualified personnel to the education system. 

International Department