The Trade Union of Education and Science of Ukraine has issued a statement demanding that teachers’ salaries be brought in line with the law. The statement was made public following the results of the All-Ukrainian Educational Conference “August 2024”, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
In particular, the trade union draws attention to the fact that currently the remuneration of teachers does not meet the requirements of the law. It is emphasised that starting in 2018, the salary of teachers with minimum qualifications should be equal to four subsistence minimums, and starting in January 2023 – three minimum wages. However, this provision remains unimplemented. In addition, even after indexation in 2023, the real salaries of teachers remain below the required level, which jeopardises the effective functioning of the education system.
“Today, the lowest official salary of a teacher, taking into account the relevant additional payments adopted in accordance with Government Resolution No. 22 of 2018, is UAH 6,808, and the lowest salary of a young teacher who has come from a university to a school or kindergarten is UAH 6,923. This is even lower than the minimum wage, which will be UAH 8,000 from January 2023. And only a teacher or educator of the highest qualification category with a long work experience has a salary of UAH 8805,”
– the statement reads.
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Therefore, the trade unionists demand that the government recognise the salaries as a public debt and pay all the money they have not been paid since 2018. Given the defence needs, the teachers are ready to wait until the war is over.
At the same time, the trade union considers the government’s excuses that there are no funds in the budget for this to be null and void, citing the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, which emphasise the inadmissibility of non-compliance with the law due to lack of budgetary funds.
Article 61 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” states:
The official salary of a pedagogical worker of the lowest qualification category shall be set at the level of three minimum wages.
The minimum salary in 2024 is UAH 8000 per month. Thus, the lowest official salary of a teacher in Ukraine should currently be UAH 24,000. However, according to Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi, the average, not even the minimum, salary of an educator is currently around UAH 16 thousand.