Parliament has approved the amendments proposed by the government regarding schools. The draft amendments to the Law on General Education were reviewed under an accelerated procedure and adopted in the third reading with 85 votes in favor and 10 against.

According to the amendments to the Law on General Education, complete general education will comprise no fewer than 11 and no more than 12 years, distributed as follows: primary education (6 years - grades I-VI), basic education (3 years - grades VII-IX), and secondary education (2 years - grades X and XI, with an optional additional year - grade XII).

Upon completion of the 11-grade program, students will receive a certificate of complete general education (attestat). Those who complete the optional 12th grade will additionally receive a certificate confirming 12 years of complete general education. The Ministry of Education and Science explains that the 12th grade will remain optional for students who wish to further strengthen their academic preparedness. Enrollment in the 12th grade will be based on prior registration.

The procedure for granting approval (so-called “grifi”) to school textbooks is abolished. Accordingly, the provisions related to textbook approval are removed from the Law on General Education. Schools will be required to conduct general education activities using textbooks created by the ministry or agreed upon with it. The law stipulates that the ministry will ensure the creation of textbooks, their printing, and their free provision to public schools for temporary use by students. The ministry will approve the price of textbooks, as well as the rules for their distribution, maintenance, replacement, and use.

At the primary level of general education, wearing a school uniform will become mandatory for students. The design of the uniform will be approved by the ministry.

Another change grants the Ministry of Education and Science the authority to establish either an entrepreneurial legal entity or a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity to achieve the objectives defined by the Law on General Education. According to the ministry, this will enable it to provide primary-level students with school uniforms.

“There are frequent cases when, to achieve the goals set by legislation, the ministry needs to implement various measures that involve certain types of economic activity. For example, the process of providing students with textbooks or school uniforms includes placing orders, transportation, warehousing, delivery, storage, and maintenance,” the Ministry of Education and Science explained.

According to the draft law, the Ministry of Education and Science will also approve the general conditions for students’ use of electronic communication devices in schools, including mobile phones.

Another change concerns responses to violence against students committed by teachers or other school staff. The ministry had initially proposed a provision under which, if a labor contract were terminated due to violence against a student, the teacher or other school employee would be barred from employment in general education institutions for three years. However, during the second reading, this initiative was revised, and it was agreed that the issue of responding to violence against students by teachers or other school staff would be regulated not by law, but by a subordinate legal act.