Trade Union Appeal Regarding Education Spending in the 2026 Budget

The government is currently working on the draft State Budget of Ukraine for 2026.

The Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine has already submitted relevant proposals to the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, as required by current legislation and the tripartite General Agreement between trade unions, employers, and the government.

An appeal was also sent to the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine regarding the ministry's advocacy for education spending in the amounts specified by law in accordance with Article 78 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” in the amount of not less than 7% of GDP, necessary, first of all, to:

ensure the salaries of teaching and research staff, as guaranteed by Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education,” - pedagogical workers, with the salary of a teaching worker of the lowest qualification category set at three minimum wages from 2026, with a corresponding differentiation depending on the qualification category of at least 10%, and for scientific and research staff – 25% higher; 

provide educational subsidies from the state budget to local budgets in the amount necessary to pay salaries to teachers of general secondary education institutions in a timely manner and in full;

provide additional funding to local budgets to cover the current expenses of general education institutions, including the need to pay the salaries of non-teaching staff;

prevent the closure of general secondary, preschool, and extracurricular education, as well as reorganization and liquidation in rural areas during the period of martial law;

ensure funding for the training of specialists, teaching and research staff on the terms of state orders in higher education institutions, specialists by institutions of pre-higher professional education in accordance with Article 87 of the Budget Code of Ukraine and taking into account the implementation of the provisions of Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine «On Education» and increasing the official salary of employees in the first tariff grade of the Unified Tariff Scale (UTS);

set the official salary of an employee of the first tariff grade of the Unified Tariff System at a level exceeding the subsistence minimum for employable persons, as provided for in Article 96 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, to determine the size of official salaries of employees in cross-cutting professions, namely UAH 14,100, with the corresponding financial support for increasing the official salaries of employees in cross-cutting professions; 

set the subsistence minimum at its actual value in accordance with Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine «On the Subsistence Minimum»;

set the minimum wage at a level that will ensure a sufficient standard of living for oneself and one's family, including adequate food, clothing, and housing, as guaranteed by Article 48 of the Constitution of Ukraine, etc. 

A corresponding appeal has also been sent to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, with relevant proposals regarding the volume of expenditure on education for 2026.

International Department