In accordance with the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber, the Concept of Security of Educational Institutions was updated and school shelters were improved
In order to enhance the safety of students in schools, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved amendments to the Concept of Safety of Educational Institutions, and some secondary education institutions and their founders have already eliminated the shortcomings of school shelters identified by the Accounting Chamber.
These steps were taken to implement the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber, provided based on the results of the international performance audit on the topic of «Civil Protection in Municipal Secondary Education Institutions education».
The audit found that as of the beginning of 2023, only 8,117 schools were provided with their own shelters, thus providing protection for 2.3 million students and school employees. At the same time, 3,128 institutions did not have such shelters, so 926.5 thousand students and employees of educational institutions remained defenseless in case of threats. Also, in 946 schools, the shelters were not suitable for use (for 227.9 thousand people).
It was found that only 62% of the projects for arranging shelters in schools, for which funds were allocated in 2023, were completed on time. One of the reasons for this situation – The Ministry of Education and Science did not ensure the functioning of an effective mechanism for distributing funds allocated for the creation of safe conditions in educational institutions, and local governments did not adhere to the principles of priority when distributing these funds between projects.
According to the results of this audit, 76 recommendations were made. Of these, 46 have been implemented and 26 have been started to be implemented.
In particular, the amendments to the Concept of Safety of Educational Institutions approved by the Government have defined key indicators for creating safe learning conditions. And the Ministry of Education and Science provided the regional authorities with a letter of clarification, agreed with the Ministry of Finance, regarding the application of certain norms specified in the procedure and conditions for implementing a subvention for the arrangement of safe conditions in schools.
Additional measures have already been taken in a number of educational institutions to enhance safety: an anti-radiation shelter has been put into operation in one of the educational institutions in Transcarpathia, and evacuation routes have been updated in a school in the Khmelnytskyi region, taking into account the needs of children with disabilities.
The auditors paid special attention to the need for systematic training for students and teachers on safety and first aid. In order to implement the recommendations, evacuation trainings, practical classes on actions in case of emergencies, as well as training in first aid were conducted in schools of Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Odessa, Kharkiv and Khmelnytskyi regions.
The units of the National Police of Ukraine of Khmelnytskyi and Lviv regions also informed the Accounting Chamber that, based on the materials of the aforementioned audit, pre-trial investigations have been initiated on the grounds of criminal offenses (official negligence and embezzlement of funds).
The Accounting Chamber continues to monitor the implementation of the recommendations (proposals) and will inform the public about the status of their implementation.
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