Albina Pareniuk with Ray LeClair and Cindy LeClair
An historic day for Ukraine came on 2 June 2015 as its parliament passed Legislative Bill No. 1447, “On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine on the Establishment of Educational Institutions by Religious Organizations” (http://zakon4.rada. gov.ua/laws/show/498-19). This law gives religious organizations the right to found not only theological educational institutions, but also institutions of general education at every level – quite a progressive development for a post-communist country in this region. In many other parts of the world schools founded by religious organizations have a long history and are popular due to their high quality and the moral upbringing they provide, but independent Ukraine has only recently managed to provide a legal basis for establishing such schools through this law. Hopeful signs are in evidence that Ukraine may even provide a means for parents to pay for their children’s education in such schools with government funds. Ukraine may be on the cusp of a significant growth of Christian pre-schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, and perhaps institutes of higher education. Already since the passing of this law, a total of at least 22 new Christian pre-schools and elementary schools have either been registered or are in the process of registration.
The Christian community in Ukraine is grateful to the three members of the Ukrainian Rada (Parliament), who co-authored Bill No. 1447 – people affiliated with different Christian denominations: Victor Yelensky (Orthodox), Lilia Grynevych (Greek Catholic), and Pavlo Ungurian (Protestant). In recommending this bill to Parliament prior to the vote in 2015, Mrs. Grynevych, then Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Education (and currently the Ukrainian Minister of Education), explained the importance of the needed legislation: “Today, any organization or individual has the right to establish a school, while religious organizations do not have this right.” This is completely contrary to Ukraine’s constitutional law (Amendment 23, Article 3) entitled, “On the Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations,” which establishes the right of parents to educate their children according to their religious convictions and worldview positions.
During intense debates over the course of many months, the bill’s authors repeatedly pointed out the need for legal experts to resolve the contradiction between Article 35 of the Constitution governing the separation of church and school and the aforementioned constitutional right of parents to educate their children according to their own religious convictions and philosophy (Amendment 23, Article 3). In the end, lawmakers agreed that while all schools, both public and private, were to use a state-mandated core curriculum, only public schools were to be subject to the separation of church and school clause. This decision officially opened the door for the inclusion of a religious component to private school education, although the parameters for this remain undefined to this day.
The Roots of Law No. 1447
The law as passed was written as a result of numerous appeals by Christian communities to the people’s deputies’ inter-party Alliance for Spirituality, Morality, and Health of Ukraine. At least two previous legislative initiatives never made it to the parliament’s voting agenda. Both of these bills were ultimately rejected by the Committee on Education of the Ukrainian Rada on grounds that they violated Article 35 of the Constitution on the separation of church and school – an argument that in practice deprived parents of their right to educate their children according to their religious convictions and philosophy. All three bills grew out of the awareness-raising campaigns conducted after 2000, especially by two organizations - the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine and the Center for Educational Programs (CEP) of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Together these organizations at the time represented about 40 registered private schools whose Christian status was not recognized officially. In partnership with the Center for Religious Information and Freedom of the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (Kyiv), CEP organized three conferences to spotlight the need for legislation on Christian education and encourage activism in the Christian community. The first conference was held in April, 2002, the second in January, 2006, and the third in February, 2008. The last was attended by Mrs. Grynevych, then head of the Kyiv Administration of Education and Sciences. Representatives from all the major Christian denominations and more than ten civil and governmental agencies of Ukraine participated. Of particular interest to local participants, who had relatively little understanding of the issues of Christian education at the time, were the perspectives of two invited legal experts from Belgium, Dr. Jan De Groof and Dr. Gracienne Lauwers of the European Association for Education Law and Policy, who advise the European Union on freedom of choice in education and matters of private school education. Other speakers at the conference included experts in Christian educational theory and practice - Dr. Ken Smitherman of ACSI (USA) and Dr. John Shortt of the Stapleford Centre (UK). Many leaders of de facto Ukrainian Christian schools, registered at the time merely as private schools, also participated.
These early conferences achieved their goals as evidenced by the increasing number of Ukrainian leaders of various religious affiliations who subsequently called for an end to discrimination against religious organizations by allowing them to establish educational institutions that would meet the needs of their constituents. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO), for example, repeatedly made appeals to allow the establishment of educational institutions by religious organizations. AUCCRO’s involvement was an important development, as it is an interfaith association that includes 18 churches and religious organizations and an interdenominational religious organization; it represents Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, as well as other religious bodies. Together they represent 95 percent of the religious network of Ukraine.
Despite very wide support for this bill and the fact that Ukraine implemented so many other reforms since gaining its independence over 25 years ago, it took nine years to resolve the issue of “religious schools” at the legislative level. Finally, on 2 June 2015, the bill, “On the Establishment of Educational Institutions by Religious Organizations” (No. 1447), was approved by 237 of the people’s deputies of the Ukrainian Rada. The law officially took effect on 4 August 2015.
Problematic Issues Following the Passing of Law 1447
As the passing of the progressive bill was a very significant step forward for Ukraine, representatives of civil society began to have confidence that this law would bring European-like standards to the sphere of education including freedom of choice, de-monopolization by the state, a healthy competitive environment, and conditions for exercising the right to educate children according to the religious worldviews of their parents. However, this is unlikely to fully take place without official guidelines for the implementation of the law on a practical level. Despite the country’s frequent proclamations that it is moving away from its Communist past, a distinct bias remains in favor of secularism in the educational system that inhibits the establishment and effectiveness of private schools organized by Christians. The necessity for Christian educational institutions to have a distinctly Christian character in order to fulfill their mission seems to remain beyond the understanding of many state officials, especially on the regional level. Religious organizations sometimes face difficulties when trying to register their educational institutions and implement their vision of education. Local educational authorities, in particular, need to gain an understanding of the nature and requirements of the Christian educational institution in meeting the needs of the communities of Christian parents they serve.
In response to this situation, various denominations, Christian lawyers and teachers, politicians, and the newly founded (2016) International Alliance for the Development of Christian Education (IADCE, which took up the cause of Christian school education after the unfortunate closure of CEP-ACSI in September 2015), are endeavoring to influence the proper implementation of the 2015 legislation. Their aim is to assist in interpreting the new law and promoting an understanding of the distinctive elements of Christian education. Issues that undoubtedly will need to be addressed in the future include curricular guidelines, evaluation, teacher training and certification, as well as school accreditation.
Most urgently at this stage, however, is the regulation of the basic policy regarding the legal and administrative aspects of religious schools. One of the most important leadership roles in this regard is being played by the Sub-committee on Education of Ukraine’s “Reanimation Package of Reforms” (RPR) – a non-sectarian grassroots public movement of volunteer citizens of various philosophical and religious persuasions pressing for needed reforms in all spheres of government. This sub-committee on education has coordinated and refined countless suggestions from its constituents and submitted them to the Ministry of Education and Science for inclusion in the nation’s (recently revised) Law on Education that is scheduled to be voted on in Parliament later in 2017. In this way, the sub-committee hopes to improve the system of education as a whole, including those aspects related to educational institutions founded by religious organizations.
As the RPR Sub-committee on Education has pointed out, the following basic problems exist in various localities in varying degrees despite the passing of Law No. 1447:
- Negative stereotypes that characterized the Soviet regime continue regarding attitudes toward religion and the church, with particularly biased attitudes toward certain religious communities.
- Little understanding exists within governmental and educational administrations of the right of religious organizations to found educational institutions with a distinctly religious character. Now that Christians have the right to educate children in private institutions according to their religious worldview and values, provisions will need to be made for certain adaptations of state-mandated school curriculum and school life. At a minimum, for example, allowance needs to be made for teachers to present Christian alternative views regarding elements of the state curriculum that are distinctly secular in character. It will also require adaptations in educational oversight, evaluation, and school administration.
- Because education is not a priority in Ukrainian politics, no fiscal mechanisms are in place to develop a tax structure that takes into consideration the existence and potential growth of private educational institutions.
- With very few exceptions, no financial subsidies from national and local educational budgets are currently provided to Christian schools.
- Christian educational institutions do not have the same access to state-owned educational and sports facilities in their communities, despite the fact that they are required to comply with the same state laws, fulfill the same governmental educational mandates (especially the use of the same core curriculum), and are subject to the same standards of quality in education. This discrepancy occurs even though, as self-financing establishments, Christian educational institutions are relieving local governmental educational budgets of significant financial responsibilities. Christian schools independently finance their own instructional services and administrative infrastructure, as well as the technical equipment and supplies needed for their institutions.
- In the spirit of the Soviet regime, some government administrators still believe that reform of the educational sphere in Ukraine can be undertaken without consideration of the needs of the clients of education – parents (many of whom are religious adherents). In some areas of the country such as western Ukraine, religious believers comprise the majority of the population, yet Ukraine’s new policy of educational decentralization has not yet brought the level of reform that in practice allows religious parents to have a bona fide choice in the education of their children. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of official demographic research, so the right of access to quality education of a Christian nature remains unattainable for many Ukrainian parents.
Hopeful Signs
While much remains to be done in order for Christian educational institutions to fully benefit from Law No. 1447, some progress is being made. One hopeful sign is that Ukraine’s Minister of Education, Mrs. Lilia Grynevych, continues to support the concept of education in institutions founded by religious organizations. She actively seeks input for improving the system of education from a variety of organizations including the RPR, and is working to promote the inclusion of relevant articles into Ukraine’s newly revised Law on Education. If passed by Parliament, the new law will create favorable conditions for the qualitative and quantitative growth of Christian educational institutions in Ukraine. (Note: IADCE is currently aware of the existence of 56 Christian schools and 9 pre-schools in Ukraine, of which 37 are members of the Alliance.) Of special note is the proposal to allow “the money to go with the child,” a kind of voucher system that allows government educational funds to pay for the education of a child in alternative schools, including religious schools.
Secondly, the founding of the International Alliance for the Development of Christian Education (www.mapxo.org) by a union of six Ukrainian organizations, occurring the very same year as the passing of Law No. 1447, is likely to prove to be a very timely and fortuitous development for the Christian community. In the spirit of its predecessor, CEP-ACSI, the Alliance focuses primarily on the supplemental training of Christian school teachers of various countries in the region to assist them in integrating quality academic instruction with worldview positions and values that are consistent with the Christian faith in order to effect a holistic, biblical, formation of the minds and hearts of students. Much work remains to be done to assist teachers in providing an education that is balanced from a Christian perspective in its underlying educational philosophy and goals, course content, teaching practices, and school ethos. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that Christians who are working cooperatively in the spheres of education and government are making a tangible difference, especially in Ukraine.
Albina Pareniuk (Kyiv, Ukraine) is head of the Education Sub-committee of the Ukrainian NGO, “Reanimation Package of Reforms;” president of the foundation and director of the early education centers, “Gift of Learning” and “F-Club;” and a founding board member of IADCE.
Raymond Le Clair (Kyiv, Ukraine) is director of the Christian Education Resource Network of Mission Eurasia; chairman of the board of IADCE; and former director of CEP-ACSI.
Cindy Le Clair (Kyiv, Ukraine) is associate director of the Christian Education Resource Network of Mission Eurasia serving with IADCE; and former associate director of CEP-ACSI.