What will parents now pay for in schools and kindergartens: innovations

New rules came into effect in Ukraine on July 7, 2023, allowing educational institutions to charge for additional educational services. According to these changes, kindergartens and higher education institutions can legally implement paid programs, which has caused concern among parents who fear that “free” education may cease to be the norm.

In particular, kindergartens will be able to organize regular groups after school hours – in the morning, evening, and on holidays. Now it is also possible to create short-term courses, clubs, and various extracurricular activities that may be useful for parents who work outside the standard schedule. For an additional fee, parents will be able to enroll their children in English, chess, or logic lessons that are not included in the standard program.

It is also envisaged to create 24-hour groups if necessary, on-site. Schools will have the right to rent their educational materials, although the specific procedure for pricing has not yet been determined.

According to Alena Parfyonova, co-founder of the organization “Parents SOS”, such changes can lead to abuse. Previously, mandatory additional classes were included in the main program, and children whose parents could not pay could become isolated. With the new rules, this problem may become legal.

The changes will also affect schools, where it will be possible to open paid clubs and master classes. At the same time, the law stipulates that these activities should not be combined with the primary educational process and interfere with lessons.

The main dangers, according to Alena Parfyonova, are the lack of clear restrictions. Without specific guarantees, free education can turn into optional, which, in turn, threatens to reduce the accessibility of education in general. This can also cause social pressure on parents who cannot afford to pay.

To avoid this, Parfyonova suggests separating paid services from the core educational program, moving them to the sphere of extracurricular education. Only then can the principle of free and high-quality education be preserved, preventing the perception of free as synonymous with low-quality.