Religious organizations granted right to establish secondary schools

On June 2, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law “On amendments to some laws of Ukraine regulating the establishment of educational institutions by religious organizations”. It entitles thereligious organizations, whose regulations (provisions) have been registered according to established procedure, to establish educational institutions (primary, secondary, after-school, vocational and higher institutions).

The respective draft bill has been registered under No. 1447. It was drawn up by the MPs of the Popular Front faction: Pavlo Unguryan, Lilia Hrynevych and Victor Yelenskyy. According to the parliament website, the bill was supported by 237 deputies.

Before voting on the bill in the first reading, Chair of the Committee on Science and Spirituality Lilia Hrynevych said:“Today, any person, any citizen is entitled to establish their own private educational institution, and religious organizations are devoid of this right! This is a result of our post-Soviet interpretation of the separation of church and stateprinciple. Yes, the state has no right to interfere in church matters, and the church should not interfere in state matters, but they may interact. This interaction isthe most successful in the world in education area,” the deputy says.

Note that for the first time the initiative regarding the rights of religious organizations to establish general educational institutions emerged in the 90s of XX century. Then the first such educational institutions appeared, being establishedby charitable foundations or individuals. Today there are dozens of schools belonging to different faiths, but their official founders are not religious organizations. Many times, similar bills, while supported by members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations, were obstructed at the level of MPs or government. The supported bill was registered in Parliament in December 2014.