For people with visual impairments
Some shortcomings in school shelters identified by the Accounting Chamber were eliminated, and the conditions for granting subventions to local budgets for the construction of such shelters were improved. These and other measures were taken to implement the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber based on the results of the performance audit on “Civil protection in communal institutions of general secondary education”. The audit covered the year 2023.
As a reminder, according to the information provided to the Accounting Chamber by the Regional and Kyiv City Military Administrations as part of the audit, as of the beginning of 2023, 8117 schools had their own shelters (for 2.3 million students and staff), 3128 schools did not have their own shelters (for 926.5 thousand), and 946 schools had unsuitable shelters (for 227.9 thousand).
At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) has not fully implemented an effective mechanism for providing subventions for the provision of safe conditions for schools, and local authorities have not adhered to the principles of priority in the allocation of funds, which has led to inefficient use of funds and the loss of opportunities to improve existing shelters. The audit also showed inefficient activities of civil protection entities in schools, although this process was formally organised.
The MES and the 49 regional audited entities have so far implemented 24 and started implementing 47 of the 76 recommendations made in the results of the audit.
In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has amended the Procedure and conditions for granting a subvention from the state budget to local budgets for the provision of safe conditions in general secondary education institutions: it has established requirements for the use of subvention funds for the construction of new shelters only if they are classified as civil protection structures. Relevant local governments are obliged to complete the implementation of projects launched in the previous period at the expense of local budgets and other sources not prohibited by law.
According to the regional military administrations, in accordance with the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber, the implementation of projects to improve the safety of schools, which were launched in 2023, continued in 2024.
To strengthen security measures in schools, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Methodology for assessing security risks in the education system related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine by Resolution No. 866 of 02 August 2024. In addition, Decree No. 1245 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 1 November 2024 approved the Procedure for implementing a pilot project to strengthen the security of the educational environment in general secondary education institutions under the legal regime of martial law. To participate in this project, the MES has already approved the list of educational institutions proposed by their founders, which includes 441 educational institutions in 21 regions.
Currently, additional security and safety measures involving 539 police officers have been provided in 402 general secondary education institutions in 9 regions of Ukraine.
Special attention in the implementation of the recommendations is paid to educational activities related to security issues. The MES has updated the content of such curricula as “Defence of Ukraine. Standard and Profile Level” for grades 10-11, and “Health Fundamentals” for grades 5-9, including expanded material on mine risk and rules for handling explosive devices. The MES has also updated the content of standard educational programmes for grades 1-2 and 3-4 in terms of civil protection and handling of explosive devices. An additional model curriculum “Safety Workshop. Grades 5-9” was also developed.
In 2024, the MES also began updating approaches to teaching the subject “Defence of Ukraine”: it is planned to develop students' skills in predicting possible scenarios of military hazards and their consequences based on establishing cause and effect relationships, and determining an algorithm for safe behaviour in such conditions.
It is worth noting that some educational institutions have already eliminated the shortcomings in the arrangement of shelters identified by the Accounting Chamber. For example, the Kegychiv Lyceum in Kharkiv oblast has created proper conditions for people with limited mobility to stay in the shelter, the Kordon Gymnasium in Odesa oblast has completed major repairs to its basement (the simplest shelter), and the Kamianets-Podilskyi Lyceum in Khmelnytskyi oblast has been equipped with the necessary fire extinguishing equipment, etc.
Some contractors have compensated for the material damage caused by the failure to perform or poor performance of work on the construction of shelters, as identified by the audit. In Vinnytsia oblast, one of the audited entities paid a fine of UAH 1.1 million to the budget for violations in the field of urban planning.
In addition, the law enforcement authorities initiated a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings initiated on the grounds of forgery of official documents by officials in Lviv region. As for another object, information was entered in the Unified register of pre-trial investigations on possible misconduct of its officials (Khmelnytskyi oblast).
The Accounting Chamber will continue to monitor the implementation of the recommendations and inform the public about it.
