The Smidynska municipality of Volyn Oblast has started building financial autonomy of its educational institutions, which will improve the efficiency of education management. It was enabled by the support and consulting provided by the team of the U-LEAD with Europe Regional Office in Volyn Oblast, where the municipality addressed to discuss the challenges faced by educational institutions.
Organisation of an effective accounting and procurement system in municipality schools became the main issue. Legislative changes, in particular amendments to the Procedure for Providing Educational Subventions, stipulate that funding for general secondary education will not be provided for institutions with less than 45 pupils (starting in 2025). From 2026, the number of pupils must be at least 60. The Smidynska municipality has schools with such a small number of pupils, so the municipality needs to adapt its educational network. Anatolii Parkhomiuk, the head of the local U-LEAD with Europe Regional Office, stated this.
According to him, in order to provide the leaders of the Smidynska municipality with a clear idea of further actions, U-LEAD organised a number of events. Head of the municipality, Oksana Pitsyk took part in a learning trip to the municipalities of Rivne Oblast, where she became aware of the practical aspects of financial autonomy of educational institutions. Thematic consultations were held for municipality officials, where U-LEAD advisers and invited expert Serhii Diatlenko provided advice on optimising the school network and meeting legislative requirements.
Oksana Pitsyk shared her opinion:
“It is important for us to establish financial autonomy, which will allow us to manage resources more efficiently and provide high-quality educational services. We started with consultations, reviewed the existing network of institutions, and through the experience exchange with Rivne Oblast, we became convinced that financial autonomy is a real and achievable goal.”
There are five educational institutions in the municipality, including one core facility, two affiliated ones, and two gymnasiums that are separate legal entities.
In cooperation with the Department of the State Education Quality Service of the Volyn Oblast, U-LEAD with Europe Regional Office held several information sessions on the topic of education quality. This helped the municipality to make a decision to conduct an institutional audit in local schools to obtain an independent assessment of management processes.
“The Smidynska municipality became the first in Ukraine to autonomously initiate an audit in the educational institutions of which it is the founder. This is an important step in determining the real state of affairs and further development of education in the municipality,” Anatolii Parkhomiuk, head of the Volyn Regional Office said.
Oksana Pitsyk added that the municipality is currently discussing draft decisions to optimise the educational network. According to the results of the decisions taken, it is planned to create an optimised network that will meet the requirements of the legislation and ensure financial autonomy, while maintaining a high level of education quality and saving local resources.
