The Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine has issued a strong statement against changes to working conditions and teachers' pay, which were proposed by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation in its opinion on the draft state budget for 2026. The trade union warns that the implementation of these initiatives could lead to mass layoffs of teachers and a significant narrowing of their labor rights.
According to the union, one of the committee's key proposals is to increase the teaching load from 18 to 22 teaching hours per week. The educators have calculated that this would effectively mean a 22.2% reduction in teaching salaries and could lead to the dismissal of more than 70,000 teachers across the country. The statement emphasizes that in the context of war and the already existing staff shortage in schools, such an initiative is not only socially dangerous, but also destructive for the education system.
In addition to the increased workload, the union was also outraged by other proposals by the MPs. In particular, they are talking about reducing bonuses for seniority and prestige of work, as well as canceling salary increases for teaching titles. According to educators, this will primarily affect the most experienced teachers and make the profession even less attractive to young people.
The trade union separately emphasizes that such approaches contradict the Constitution. The statement recalls that Article 22 of the Constitution of Ukraine and the decisions of the Constitutional Court expressly prohibit narrowing the scope of already granted rights and freedoms through the adoption of new laws, including budget laws, as well as repealing or limiting the effect of other laws under the guise of “budgetary expediency.”
" We categorically protest against the proposed changes and call on the people's deputies, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, members of the committees on budget, finance, tax and customs policy to prevent the adoption of these illegal norms in the second reading, which violate the labor rights of teachers ," the trade union said.
Educators demand the withdrawal of scandalous proposals from the draft state budget for 2026 and the preservation of current guarantees of teachers' salaries, emphasizing that any reforms should not be carried out at the expense of worsening the situation of teachers, but through a systemic change in approaches to financing education.
