Place guarantee to ECEC

The Ukrainian state provides comprehensive support to families in the development, upbringing and education of their children. It ensures the accessibility and provision of free early childhood education and care (ECEC) in state and municipal early childhood education institutions (ECEIs), in accordance with state standards for the content, level, and scope of such education (наказ Міністерства освіти і науки України ‘Про затвердження Базового компонента дошкільної освіти’). This includes compulsory ECEC for older pre-school age children. The state also guarantees accessible and free ECEC in state and municipal ECEIs for children with special educational needs (SEN), considering their specific intellectual, social, and physical development in the most appropriate and effective way.

Local self-government bodies create the conditions for the provision of early childhood education, in particular by establishing and developing a network of ECEIs. 

As mentioned above, ECEC is compulsory in Ukraine for children of older pre-school age. Parents (persons in loco parentis) are responsible for their children's ECEC. They also have the right to choose how their children receive this education: in ECEIs (state, municipal, private and corporate forms of ownership), in structural subdivisions of educational institutions of all forms of ownership, through home-based (family) education, with the assistance of persons with pedagogical training or professional qualifications as pedagogical workers, or through individual entrepreneurs whose main activity is in the field of education.

Every child has the right to a place in an ECEI, but there is no legal guarantee of such a place. The problem of insufficient places in state and municipal educational institutions, especially in densely populated areas, remains a significant concern.

In Ukraine, an electronic queue for enrolment of children in a given area is to be introduced. Local education authorities are responsible for developing and implementing the electronic registration programme.

In accordance with the Regulations on Early Childhood Education Institutions (постанова Кабінету Міністрів України ‘Про затвердження Положення про заклад дошкільної освіти’), the following categories of children are given priority for enrollment in state (municipal) ECEIs:

• Children residing within the service area of the state (municipal) ECEI (if established by the institution's founder);

• Siblings (including adopted siblings) of children already attending the ECEI;

• Children of ECEI staff;

• Children with SEN due to intellectual disabilities and/or sensory and physical impairments;

• Orphans, children deprived of parental care placed in foster care, foster families, family type children's homes, patronage families and adopted children;

• Children in difficult circumstances who are registered with children's services;

• Internally displaced children or children affected by military operations and armed conflicts;

• Other children entitled to priority enrolment in educational institutions under Ukrainian legislation (e.g., закон України ‘Про статус і соціальний захист громадян, які постраждали внаслідок Чорнобильської катастрофи’; закон України ‘Про соціальний і правовий захист військовослужбовців та членів їх сімей’).

Local education authorities may offer additional benefits for enrolling a child in municipal ECEIs. The relevant education departments are responsible for assisting parents in the process of enrolling their children.

The armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the subsequent imposition of martial law have had a significant impact on ECEIs. Decisions on the operation of these institutions are taken by the local executive authorities and local self-government bodies, depending on the specific situation in the region. Some institutions have continued to operate as usual, while others have suspended their activities. Some institutions have taken on the role of providing temporary shelter for displaced persons, organising distance learning and counselling parents. As a result of the ongoing hostilities, some ECEIs have suffered and continue to suffer significant damage and destruction. Under the legal framework of martial law, pre-school children and their parents have access to education through the existing websites of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU), local education authorities and ECEIs, as well as through messengers, e-mail, etc.

Affordability 

According to the Ukrainian Law on Education (закон України ‘Про освіту’), the state guarantees free ECEC based on established educational standards. This right is provided for pre-school learners through the development of a network of institutions of all ownership forms. Their financial support is ensured as stipulated by law, in amounts sufficient to uphold the right to education for all citizens of Ukraine, foreign citizens and stateless persons residing permanently or temporarily in Ukraine. 

In state and municipal ECEIs, the development, upbringing and education of children are free of charge. State and municipal ECEIs may provide paid educational and other services, the list of which must be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The founders of these institutions have the right to approve additional lists of paid educational and other services not included in the list approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Additional educational services not defined by the Basic component of ECEC may be provided only with the consent of the child's parents (persons in loco parentis) and at their expense. This is based on an agreement between the parents and the institution, which ensures that the child's maximum permitted study load is not exceeded.

Parents, in their capacity as legal guardians, are responsible for paying for their children's meals in state and municipal ECEIs, with the amounts set by local self-government bodies or relevant administrative authorities. Local self-government bodies may provide preferential payment conditions for children's meals in ECEIs for large families, low-income families and other categories in need of social support, financed from the local budget. Local self-government bodies and local executive authorities provide free meals to orphans, children deprived of parental care, children with disabilities and children from families receiving assistance in accordance with other relevant laws of Ukraine. In addition, some categories of parents (persons in loco parentis) are exempt from paying for their children's meals. These categories include families whose total income per family member for the previous quarter did not exceed the minimum subsistence level (guaranteed minimum). This subsistence minimum is set annually by the law on the State Budget of Ukraine.

The founders of private and corporate ECEIs are responsible for setting the fees for the provision of ECEC services.