Students in grades 10–11 want to be guaranteed graduation from their school

Students in grades 10–11 in Ukraine want to be guaranteed the opportunity to complete full general secondary education in the same school where they began their studies, even if the educational institution changes its status from lyceum to gymnasium as part of the reform.

The relevant norm is provided by the revised draft law No. 15082-d, the preparation of which is being completed by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation. This was reported by the committee chairman Serhii Babak.

This concerns students who have already begun their studies under the current two-year senior school program. According to Babak, changing the type of educational institution should not lead to a situation where a student has to transfer to another school just to finish grades 10–11 and receive a certificate of complete general secondary education.

The problem arose against the backdrop of reforming the network of senior schools. After changing the status of a lyceum to a gymnasium, the educational institution as a general rule should not provide specialized secondary education. Because of this, a legal collision has arisen for senior students already studying there: they began to receive the corresponding level of education in one institution, but before graduation it may lose its lyceum status.

The new mechanism should allow such students to complete their studies without forced change of school. That is, if a child is already studying in the 10th or 11th grade, the reorganization of the institution itself should not deprive them of the opportunity to complete their studies there and receive a document of complete secondary education.

The revised document appeared on the basis of two previously registered initiatives. The main draft law No. 15082 was submitted on March 16 by Serhii Babak and other people's deputies. It proposed to enshrine the student's right to complete full general secondary education in the same institution where they began their studies.

Later, an alternative draft No. 15082-1 was registered in parliament. It proposed a separate transitional rule for students who began receiving basic secondary education in the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 academic years.

The specialized subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada on September 21 considered both documents and decided to recommend rejecting them as separate draft laws, and instead to introduce a new, revised version prepared by the committee on their basis. It should receive the number 15082-d.

According to Babak, the technical teams of the committee and the Ministry of Education and Science have agreed on the final version of the document. The committee intends to recommend that the Verkhovna Rada adopt the compromise draft law as a basis and as a whole.

However, the new rules do not yet take effect: the document must go through the parliamentary procedure and receive the necessary number of votes in the Verkhovna Rada. According to the head of the specialized committee, consideration of the draft law in the session hall is planned for October.