The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 1286, which postponed the implementation of the previous decision to increase the minimum salary of teachers to the level of four subsistence minimums. This means that the promised increase in salaries for educators will occur only after the end of martial law and only for the next year after that.
The Cabinet of Ministers' resolution provides for the suspension of the decision, adopted back in July 2019, for an indefinite period of time. The resolution states:
“To suspend from January 1, 2025 and until the end of the calendar year following the year in which martial law was terminated or abolished, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 822 of July 10, 2019.”.
Extra payments instead of raises
To somehow compensate for the postponement of salary increases, the Cabinet of Ministers established monthly additional payments to teachers for special working conditions:
- From January 1, 2025 - in the amount of 1,300 UAH ;
- From September 1, 2025 until the end of the calendar year in which martial law is lifted, in the amount of UAH 2,600 .
These additional payments will only be received by teachers of general education schools working in state and municipal educational institutions. Teachers of preschool, after-school and vocational education are not subject to this resolution and are not subject to additional payments.
Ministry of Education and Science's reaction
The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of Ukraine has announced that it is working to make allowances available to all educators. According to Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovy, the issue of salaries and support for teachers is one of the government's priorities, particularly during a war.
"Teachers' salaries in schools should be decent, and the government is working to find additional resources to financially support educators, even in difficult conditions," the minister said.
Despite a certain increase in the average salary in Ukraine in the first half of 2024 by more than 20%, educators remain among the lowest paid workers in the country, with an average salary of about UAH 14,000 . For comparison, specialists in the financial sector and IT workers receive the highest salaries.
The minimum salary for teachers will not be increased to four times the subsistence minimum until the year after martial law ends. The government is relying on the bonuses as a temporary measure of support, but the exact date of the introduction of the new salaries remains unknown, which continues to keep educators in a state of uncertainty.
