Mykolaiv Education Department announces competition for school directors, deputies claim unequal conditions

Schools in Mykolaiv will soon hold competitions for the positions of principals. At the same time, some of the current principals do not have time to pass the language exam and obtain the certificate required to participate in the competition.

This was discussed on 22 October at a meeting of the City Council's Standing Committee on Human Rights, Children, Family, Legality, and Publicity, according to NikVesti.

Olena Kiselyova, the head of the commission on legality and a member of the city council, questioned the appropriateness of holding competitions in wartime and in the middle of the educational process. She recalled that in most Ukrainian cities during martial law, contracts with school and medical directors are automatically renewed if there are no complaints or conflicts.

«You intend to hold competitions for school principals. And I have already heard the reaction to this initiative during martial law, during the long educational process. And moreover, in a short timeframe, when the competitions are to be held in less than a month. People are at work, performing their duties. This is also an element of gratitude for their work. If there are no complaints or conflicts, why do we need all this now?» the deputy stressed.

On 13 October, the Education Department of Mykolaiv City Council published an announcement of competitions for the positions of directors of 19 general secondary education institutions in the city.

In particular, these are the following educational institutions:

• gymnasiums №11, №12, №13, №29, №30, №31, №35, №36, №45, №50 named after H.L. Divina, №56, №57
• lyceums №3, №42, №53, №55, №58, named after Mykola Arkas and named after Oleh Olzhych.

According to the order, documents will be accepted for the competition from 20 October to 20 November 2025.

Head of the Education Department Hanna Lychko explained that the need to hold competitions is related to the law.

«Since martial law has been in place for more than a year, we have a number of vacant leadership positions and now there are acting heads. We need heads of general secondary education institutions, not acting heads. We hoped that martial law would end sooner, but we have to regulate the process,» she said.

At the same time, Olena Kiseliova responded by saying that this period — autumn and winter — is the most stressful for both the educational process and school staff.

So why is it during the school year, when we are entering the heating season, when people are scared of blackouts? We talk about mental health, and then we tell people: come on, go to the competition. Perhaps we need to move this process to a warmer period, after the New Year. To make it more human and logical,» the MP said.

Hanna Lychko also stressed that it is difficult to change managers in the middle of the year due to organisational issues, such as the signing of educational documents, which are formed from January to June.

«During this period, it is very difficult to change the head of the school because it is all about printing documents. It's difficult to talk about a certain «convenient moment» — in summer, managers are on holiday, in winter, the educational process continues,» she explained.

Olena Kiseliova believes that even in such circumstances, it is better to hold the competition after the end of the school year

«In summer, when a manager wants to go to a competition, he or she understands why he or she has to trade off rest for preparation. But when the work process is already intense and it's cold outside, it's not the right time. The autumn and winter period is definitely not the best time for radical changes. Let's spare our people and not create unnecessary difficulties for them,» the deputy added.

Following the discussion, the deputies agreed to return to this issue after consultations with the relevant deputy mayor. It is possible that a decision will be initiated to postpone the competitions to a more favourable period.

After the Education Department of Mykolaiv City Council announced competitions for the positions of principals of 19 schools on 13 October, the editorial office of NikVesti began receiving complaints from educators. Some of the directors believe that the conditions for participation in the selection process are unequal, as not all candidates have managed to obtain a certificate of proficiency in the state language, a mandatory document for participation in the competition.

According to one of the applicants, some directors found out about the competition too late, when it was no longer possible to register for the next session of the National Commission on State Language Standards.

In a commentary to NikVesti, Nataliia Kurdysh, head of the personnel department of the Mykolaiv City Council's education department, called such allegations groundless.

«This is not true. People even go through certification for themselves because they understand that it is necessary, those who read the regulatory framework. Ordinary teachers came to me, not deputy teachers or principals, who simply passed the language test. Those who wanted to, had already passed, because you can do it even in other cities. It's a matter of desire and speaks of a person's incompetence. In accordance with the current legislation, I introduced the law on complete general education to all working managers. They had to familiarise all employees with it according to our letter. Everything is spelled out there, we do everything strictly according to the law,» she said.

Nataliia Kurdysh also noted that all competitions are held in accordance with the current legislation, and the education department has no right to appoint managers without a competitive procedure.

«We have not violated any provisions of the law. The regulations on holding competitions were approved back in 2018. We have not appointed a single director without a competition. All documents and announcements are open — they are published on the department's website and school websites,» she added.

The head of the HR department stressed that during the period of martial law, most principals work as acting principals, and this situation cannot continue indefinitely.

— We did not hold competitions only during the first months of the war. But now we have the right to resume them. Because when almost all are the acting heads , it is no longer normal,» explained Nataliia Kurdysh.

It should be reminded that in Mykolaiv, teachers working full-time or in a mixed format have been receiving a monthly supplement of 5200 hryvnias for their work during the war since 1 September. The payments are made from the state subvention.