Rada education committee slams education ministry performance on new teacher pay model
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation has recognized the work of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as unsatisfactory regarding the formation of a new salary model for pedagogical workers, committee chairman Serhiy Babak reported.
"The bill on the reform of remuneration for pedagogical workers, which the Ministry of Education was supposed to develop to fulfill the budgetary conclusions to the Law ‘On the State Budget’ by the end of the first quarter, has still not been submitted for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. There is no reform. There is not even a concept. And even if it appears urgently now, we hit the calendar, because summer holidays are ahead, and the Verkhovna Rada will not change the rules of the game for teachers during them," Babak wrote on his Telegram channel following a committee meeting on Wednesday.
According to him, the Ministry of Education submitted a proposal to develop a new bill that would take effect from September 1, 2027, but the committee head believes this is not a solution.
"At today’s meeting, the Committee recognized the work of the Ministry of Education in terms of forming a new model of remuneration for pedagogical workers as unsatisfactory. Separately, we recommended that the Cabinet of Ministers take the issue of forming and implementing a new model of remuneration for pedagogical workers under the personal control of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Education – to immediately ensure the start of the work of the interdepartmental working group," Babak said.
In addition, by April 22, the Ministry of Education must provide the committee with a coordinated concept of the new remuneration model with financial and economic calculations, an impact assessment on state and local budgets, and proposals for regulatory and legal support for its implementation.
As reported, according to the results of consideration in the Verkhovna Rada, the state budget for 2026 does not provide for an increase in the weekly load or the transfer of teachers from permanent to fixed-term contracts. The document provides for a 30% increase in the salary of pedagogical workers from January 1, 2026, and another 20% increase from September 1, 2026. At the same time, the government was instructed to develop a new remuneration system that would provide for a significant basic salary and should start working from September 2026.
On December 23, 2025, the Ministry of Education described four pay models developed for further discussion. Specifically, the models include: an increase in workload; no increase in workload; a proportional salary increase for various categories of teachers; and a non-proportional increase with an emphasis on young teachers to stimulate entry into the profession.
From January 1, 2026, teachers of all specialties, educators, assistant educators, pedagogical organizers, practical psychologists, extracurricular education teachers, and other pedagogical workers of preschool, general secondary, extracurricular, and vocational education institutions received a 30% salary increase.
On January 21, the Ministry of Education stated that the new remuneration model for pedagogical and scientific-pedagogical workers should start operating from September 1, 2026.
At the same time, in mid-February, Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi (also spelled Lisovy) stated that if the educational communities do not agree on one of the four scenarios for the reform of the teacher salary structure, a simple 20% increase will take place starting in September.
On March 23, Lisovyi reported that the Ministry of Education had already developed a bill on changing the remuneration system for teachers, but there was no agreement from professional unions yet.
On April 1, the Ministry of Education proposed integrating bonuses for prestige and unfavorable conditions into the basic salary of teachers, and introducing the new remuneration model from 2027.
