School shutdowns and work conditions top the list of complaints in Ukraine amid war
Photo: What Ukrainians complain about most often (Getty Images)
Over the past six months, the Office of the Education Ombudsman has received more than 1,400 appeals from citizens. Most often, Ukrainians complain about restrictions on the choice of education, school closures, bullying, and the danger of the educational process, Education Ombudsman Nadiia Leshchyk says in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
From November 1, 2024, when Leshchyk was appointed to the post, to June 1, 2025, the Office of the Education Ombudsman received 1,413 appeals.
Among them, the issue of the right to free choice of the form of education remains a particularly acute topic - there were 312 such appeals.
Another 180 reports concerned the reorganization and liquidation of educational institutions, as schools are often merged with other schools or re-profiled due to a decrease in the number of students.
No less painful are the issues related to child abuse, including bullying - 103 such cases were recorded. In addition, 87 appeals were about the lack of adequate security during the educational process, and another 76 concerned excessive teaching load.
Complaints
According to Leshchyk, for the whole of 2024, the leaders among complaints were problems related to education during the war - almost 300 appeals, as well as issues of reorganization or liquidation of educational institutions (159), bullying (146), working conditions of teachers (104) and low wages (100).
According to the ombudsman, teachers often complain about being overloaded with duties that are not related to the educational process.
In addition, educators are dissatisfied with the level of salaries, cases of mobbing by management, and the lack of minimum working conditions. For example, some teachers are forced to buy paper and refill cartridges for printing documents, including student achievement certificates, at their own expense.
In the first quarter of 2025, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Taras Kremen, received 646 appeals from citizens. They were about violations of the Law of Ukraine on Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language.
