Ukraine plans to reinstate competitive selection processes for school principals
There is discussion in Ukraine about reinstating competitive selection processes for school principal positions, and the education ombudswoman has already voiced her support for this idea. She believes that it is the principal who determines the school’s development and the quality of education reform. The question now is whether communities are ready to reinstate transparent selection processes.
Education Ombudsman Nadiya Leshchyk stated that she fully supports the reinstatement of competitive selection processes for school principal positions, emphasizing that the school principal is the key figure in implementing reforms and creating an environment where teachers can work effectively and students can thrive.
According to her, competitions can remain mandatory for most regions, but at the same time, a flexible approach should be provided for border or frontline communities, where the security situation is more complex and requires specific solutions. “I wholeheartedly support the reinstatement of competitive selection processes. Because the principal is a key figure in implementing the reform, in organizing this academic lyceum, and in creating a positive atmosphere within the educational institution so that teachers can thrive,” Leshchyk noted during the presentation of a sociological study on the reform of specialized secondary education.
She also explained that the current law allows communities to decide independently whether to hold competitions or not, but some of them use the state of war as a pretext to abandon such procedures altogether. “For example, Chernihiv—we understand how it is shelled and suffers every day—they hold competitions there. But, for example, in the western regions—they don’t hold competitions there,” said the ombudswoman, highlighting the differing approaches of local communities.
The idea of reinstating competitive selection was also supported by MP Serhiy Koleboshin, who noted that the current system often allows for appointments based on informal agreements rather than professional qualifications, which undermines transparency in the education sector.
“And these rules need to be changed, because very often, under the current rules, this is simply a mechanism for appointing a person needed by the founding community or for removing someone who is unsatisfactory for some reason,” he said.
At the same time, the deputy emphasized that the NUS reform remains strategic for the future of education and primarily concerns children’s ability to independently choose their educational path, while all other issues are rather tools for its implementation that can be refined along the way.
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