The government has allocated more than ₴57 billion to local communities to raise teachers' salaries
The government has allocated 57.4 billion hryvnia in educational subsidies to local communities for September–December 2026 to ensure the timely payment of increased salaries to teachers. An additional 500 million hryvnia has been set aside as a reserve to address urgent financial issues.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved a decision on the distribution of the education subsidy among local budgets for the last four months of 2026.
Thanks to this decision, an average 20% increase in teachers’ salaries is expected to take effect starting in September 2026.
To finance this increase, the government has reallocated 25.8 billion hryvnias to the educational subsidy budget program.
The Ministry of Education and Science notes that allocating funds directly for September through December should give communities a clear understanding of the amount of funding available through the end of the year.
“Allocating funds for September–December gives communities a clear understanding of the amount of funding available through the end of the year. This will help them plan their payroll expenses and ensure timely payments to teachers, taking into account the anticipated salary increase. It is important to us that teachers receive their due pay on time and that schools have stable funding,” said Minister of Education and Science Andriy Butenko.
The Cabinet of Ministers also made changes to certain indicators of the Educational Subsidy Allocation Formula.
Effective September 1, 2026, the maximum calculated class size for elementary schools has been set at no more than 24 students.
For communities where this figure is already 24 students or fewer, no changes are planned.
“Setting the maximum calculated class size at 24 is particularly important for large cities and communities where this figure was previously higher. For local communities with a calculated class size of 24 or fewer, everything remains unchanged. Thanks to this change, the formula will account for more projected classes and more accurately determine the funding needed to pay teachers’ salaries. Additionally, the calculation of the subsidy takes into account all curriculum hours that are essential for mastering the State Educational Standard,” noted Anastasia Sofienko, Deputy Minister of Education and Science.
Another change concerns the hours in the curriculum that have not been funded since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Starting September 1, these hours will once again be included in the calculation of the educational subsidy.
The Ministry of Education and Science expects that this will allow for a more accurate assessment of communities’ funding needs for teachers’ salaries and a more comprehensive consideration of students’ educational needs.
Ultimately, the government’s decision should make education funding more predictable through the end of 2026.
The changes to the formula are also intended to better account for the specificities of organizing instruction in elementary schools and the full scope of students’ educational needs.
Thus, communities will receive the financial resources needed to ensure the stable operation of schools and the timely payment of increased salaries to teachers.
This was reported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, starting September 1, 2026, teachers’ salaries are set to increase by another 20%. Thus, the total increase in teachers’ salaries compared to 2025 will amount to 50%.
The Ukrainian labor market continues to change amid an acute labor shortage. Some employers are raising salaries, but more than half of employees have not seen a real increase in their incomes. The highest wages are currently paid in certain blue-collar professions, and in some regions, annual wages have risen by more than a quarter.
Starting September 1, teachers’ salaries will increase by 20%, and student scholarships will double. In addition, more than 3 million schoolchildren will receive free meals.
