The Government has adopted a resolution “On the implementation of a pilot project to strengthen the security of the educational environment in general secondary education institutions under martial law”.

The pilot project was developed by the Ministry of Education and Science jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Emergency Service as part of the Strategy for Supporting Children in Ukraine under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

The aim of its implementation is to create safe conditions in schools. This includes the introduction of the activities of inspectors of the NPU’s educational security service in general secondary education institutions, an access control regime to protect against unauthorised persons or the introduction of dangerous substances, road safety in the surrounding area (including the installation of lighting at pedestrian crossings) and a number of other measures related to the physical safety of children and staff of general secondary education institutions.

One of the main steps is to provide shelters for all participants in the educational process. The Government has allocated UAH 7.5 billion for this purpose in 2024.

Police units of the Educational Security Service (ESS) are assigned to the educational institutions participating in the pilot. Currently, there are more than 940 ESS inspectors working in Ukrainian schools, all of whom have voluntarily joined the project. It is expected that by the end of 2024, 2,000 general secondary education institutions will be covered by the ESS police.

The salary costs of the school safety inspectors will be covered by the budget of the National Police of Ukraine, but in no case by parental contributions. The regional and city military administrations will arrange the workplace of the school security inspectors.

Schools are not required to participate in the pilot project, and the decision to join is up to the school founders, whose list is approved by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2024-2025, the maximum number of schools that can join is 2,000, and in 2025-2026, 3,000. Schools with more than 200 students in a full-time or mixed format will be able to join. Local governments are responsible for implementing the project.