Figure 1.--During the Soviet era, Ukrabian children wore uniforms, especially during the opst-World War I period. Yhe girks wire dark dresses with white pinfores and commonly hair bows. This 1970s school ptrrait is a good example with an especially large hairbows. .

The Ukraine has only been an independent country since 1992. Before that it was part of the Soviet Union and Tsart Russia. HBC has developed some basic information on modern Ukranian education. Primary and secondary schools encompass 11 years. Uniforms were commonly worn in the Soviet period, but are no longer worn by school children.

Ukranian Education

Basic program

Ukranian school children pursue a basic program of 11 years. The first 3 years are at an elementary (primary) school. In an elementary school the basic subjects: mathematics, Ukranian (similar to Russian), spelling, and literature is conducted by one teacher. The following 5 years is "unfinished" education. [?HBC is not sure what our Ukranian reader meant here.] Then each subject is taught by a subject teacher. After these first 8 years, children can enter secondary schools and persue specialities. Considerable attention is being devoted to foreign languages and computer training. Secondary school lasts 3 years. After this the graduates can persue various levels of higher education. Ukranian authorities announced in 2001 announced that they were going to shift to a 12-year system. Children beginning to school in 2001 and subsequent years will study for 12 years. Others will finish school training under the old 11-year program.

Special schools

There are special schools focusing on specialized curiculum, including foreign languages. economic, legal studies, and other areas.

Higher education

In last stage of the 3 year secondary program, schools conclude contracts with higher educational institutions. The best students have the right to enter higher educational institutes without entrance examinations based on their academic record and an entrance interview.

Types of schools

Schools are operated by the state. The schools are practically free-of-charge, though they periodically collect money from parents to cover basic economic needs. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, some private schools have opened. The fees at these schools are very high and beyond the ability of most Ukranians to afford. Odessa and probably other Ukranian cities have a Jewish school, which is sponsored by Jewish organization abroad. In it only Jewish children can study. For them there are no school fees. The children besides standard subjects study Hebrew.

Chronology

The chronological assessment of Ukrainian schools is somewhat complicated by changing political situations. Poland and Russia fought over Ukraine (17th century). This was before many children attended any schools. For most of the modern era, Ukraine has been under Russian control, either the Russian Tsarist Empire ( -1917) or the Soviet Union (1917-91). This is complicated by changing boundaries, German occupation during the two world wars and a brief period of disorganized independence during the Civil War following World War I. The education system was dominated by either Tsarist and then Soviet control. In both instances there was an effort to suppress Ukrainian nationalism and culture and education was used in this process. Ukraine itself was culturally divided between an orthodox east and Catholic west. The Catholic west had a stronger degree of contact with the West than most other Tsarist provinces except the Baltics and Poland -- countries which briefly obtained their independence after World War I (1914-17). An independent Ukraine came into existence after centuries of subjugation (1992). At first, Ukraine contined to be controlled by former Soviet Apparatchiks. This did not change until the Orange Revolution which defeated President Putin's effort to retain control (2004). This finally afforded affording the opportunity to establish a Ukrainian educational system free to promote Ukrainian nationalism and culture and turn to the West. President Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine to prevent the desire of Ukrainians to be a free and independent nation (2022).

School Uniform

We are just beginning our assessment of Ukrainian school uniforms. We do not know much about Ukrainian school uniforms in the the Tsarist era. Secondary schools in Russia had military=styled uniforms. We do not yet have Ukrainian examples, but believe the same was true in Ukraine. We are not sure why there are fewer Ukrainian examples. Ukraine of course was smaller than Russia and did not have the big urban centers like Moscow and St. Parkersburg. The Bolsheviks held Ukraine within the new Soviet Union. Uniforms were commonly worn in the Soviet period after a degree of economic stability was achieved. The uniforms varied over time, but were standardized throughout the country. We have developed some information on Soviets school uniforms, most of the information we have collected is archived in the Russian school section. Some images show Ukrainian wearing slate-blue dresses. Some Ukrainian girls wore brown dresses, both with the white pinafores. Russian girls as far as we can tell wore blue dresses. As far as we know, the Ukrainian boys wore blue suits like Russian boys. We also notice blue military tunics and service caps, but we are unable to date them. After independence (1992), one report suggests in the Ukraine only children in elementary school wore school uniforms. The next years of school depends on the individual school. The uniform now depends on administration of school. At many schools children go in their ordinary clothes. The school uniform is reportedly not very popular with the children. School in Ukraine has been disrupted by the brutal Russian invasion and attempt to regain control of Ukraine (1992).

Activities

We are just beginning to develop information on activities at Ukranian schools. We have limited information on activities in Ukranian schools. There of course are all the standard academic activities. We are less sure about the extent of extra-curicvular activities. We note images of the childdren involved in class skits and presentations. We also do not know how activities varied over time. During tghe Soviet era there was the Young Pioneer program. There was also military training for the boys. I assume that no longer takes place, but am not sure at this time.

Gender

We have very limited information on the school uniforms worn by Ukranian girls. The Ukraine was part of the Tsarist Empire and the Soviet union until the disolution of the Soviet Union (1991). We have no information on the Tsarist era. Ukranian gir;s during the Soviet era wore the uniform mandated by Soviet authorities throughout the Soviet Union. This was a black dress, white pinafore, and white hairbows. We had thought that this uniform disappeared with the disolution of the Soviet Union. A HBC readers tells us, however, that Ukranian girls still wear this uniform on special occassions such as the first and last day of school. This is essentially the same pattern as in Russia.

Individual Schools

There were of course many schools in what is now the Ukraine before the Ukraine became independent (1992). The schools were administered by the Russian Empire, Austrian Empire, the Soviet Union and Poland. In many areas there were mixed populations. Through most of this period the schools were taught in other languages. Here regulations different from country to country and over time. One example is a rural school in what was then southeastern Poland--a Village near Stanislaw�w.

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Created: December 20, 2001
Last updated: 3:58 PM 5/7/2023