Academic Lyceums as a Test of Trust: Why the Reform of Upper Secondary School Depends Not Only on the Ministry of Education and Science

Ukraine is not abandoning the reform of upper secondary specialized school. Despite the war, public fatigue, resistance from some parents, and uneven readiness of communities, the launch of academic lyceums remains one of the key stages of changes in education.

The reform of upper secondary school is often perceived through the fear of losing what is familiar. For many parents, school is not only a place of learning, but also a familiar environment, teachers, a route, and a class their child is used to. That is why any change naturally raises questions where will the child go after grade 9, will the road to the lyceum become more difficult, will preparation for university admission become worse, will there be enough teachers, will communities be left without their upper grades. These questions cannot be dismissed as misunderstanding. They need to be explained. Because the success of the reform depends not on whether a network of lyceums is formally created, but on whether people see an academic lyceum not as a threat to the familiar school, but as an opportunity for a teenager to receive stronger education and real choice.

Upper secondary specialized school is not just a new name for grades 10–12. Its task is to change the very approach to the education of upper secondary students. A student should not simply “sit through” the final years before admission, but gradually define their interests, choose a profile, part of the subjects within this profile, and part of the courses outside it. That is, school should give a teenager not one rigid route, but space for a conscious choice. This is where an academic lyceum differs from the old specialized classes. Previously, many schools already had mathematics, science, or humanities classes. But often this was more of an administrative decision than real personalization of learning. The new model provides something different: the student must be an active participant in the choice, and not simply end up in a class formed according to the existing capabilities of the school. For this to work, all sides must be involved in the educational process. The student defines interests and goals. Parents support the choice and take part in consultations. A psychologist or career adviser helps to see abilities, inclinations, and possible directions for development. Teachers explain the content of programs and assess readiness for advanced study. The administration forms the schedule, groups, and learning conditions. This is more difficult than simply opening several specialized classes. But this is precisely the value of the reform: it should teach the school to work with the individual path of a child, and not only with the class as one group.

A separate challenge is the readiness of communities. According to the data, about 20% of communities have not yet formed a network of lyceums. This means that part of local self-government is still either not ready for the launch or has not fully determined what upper secondary school should look like on its territory. The problem is not always unwillingness. Often it is about difficult demographics, long distances, the state of roads, lack of resources, and fear of parents’ reaction. But delaying does not solve the issue. Children who studied according to the approaches of the New Ukrainian School cannot move to upper secondary school that works according to the old logic. If school changed in the primary and basic levels, upper secondary school must also change.

At the same time, the state is already making certain compromises. The possibility is being discussed of allowing current ninth-graders who did not study under the New Ukrainian School program to complete school under the old rules. This is not the cancellation of the reform, but an attempt to make the transition less abrupt for those who truly found themselves between two learning models. There is also another compromise: in certain cases, an academic lyceum may include not only upper secondary school, but also basic and primary school. This is important for communities where the full separation of the lyceum is currently difficult to implement. But such an exception must not turn into a way to keep everything unchanged. If a school is formally called a lyceum, but the old learning system remains, the reform will lose its meaning. One of the most painful issues is transportation. The Ministry of Education and Science sets a benchmark of 30 kilometers to the lyceum. Theoretically, this may be about half an hour on the road, but in real conditions bad roads can turn this route into an hour of exhausting travel. For a teenager, this matters. If a child arrives at the first lesson tired, nervous, or physically exhausted by the road, the quality of learning is already affected. According to estimates, the need for building or repairing roads to lyceums is about UAH 30 billion. This year, UAH 3.5 billion was found for roads to pilot lyceums. This is an important part of the reform, because a quality upper secondary school cannot exist separately from transport accessibility. A lyceum must be not only well equipped, but also genuinely reachable for students.

Funding also remains a difficult issue. UAH 10 million is being invested in each pilot lyceum, primarily in laboratories and technical workshops. This is the right priority, because upper secondary school should provide more practice, research work, and work with equipment. But these funds are not enough to fully reconstruct every school according to modern requirements. At the same time, education is now receiving significant investment. Over the past three years, funding for the Ministry of Education and Science has grown by more than UAH 100 billion. At the same time, the state is building more than 200 underground schools, each of which requires funds comparable to the construction of a new lyceum. This shows the complexity of the moment: the reform has to move forward at a time when education is simultaneously solving issues of safety, accessibility, and quality. For teachers, the reform is no less difficult than for parents. It requires not only new programs, but also a different organization of learning: flexible groups, elective courses, work with students’ interests, career counseling, and flexible planning. This is a major workload, especially during war, staff shortages, and emotional fatigue.

That is why the reform cannot be shifted only onto the shoulders of teachers. A teacher must receive methodological support, professional development, clear tools, and the right to a gradual transition. The Ministry of Education and Science is already preparing manuals based on the experience of 30 pre-pilot lyceums, methodological recommendations, checklists, templates, and examples of practical solutions. This is important, because schools need not general appeals, but specific answers: how to form profiles, how to build a schedule, how to work with students’ choices, how to explain changes to parents. The staffing issue also cannot be avoided. There are few young teachers in schools about 10% on average. The reason is not only salary, although it remains a key factor. The atmosphere in the team, the management style, freedom for the teacher, the opportunity to make mistakes, try new approaches, and work with modern equipment also matter. A successful lyceum is not only classrooms and laboratories. It is an environment where a teacher is not afraid of changes, but has support for them. If the school administration creates space for initiative, young educators are more willing to come. The example of the Chernivtsi pre-pilot lyceum, where the share of young teachers already reaches 60%, shows that changes are possible when school becomes a place of professional development, and not only the fulfillment of instructions.

It is also important how the reform is explained to parents. Complex terminology, regulatory documents, and figures do not always work. Parents need to hear simple answers what will change for my child, how will they get there, who will teach them, will preparation for admission be sufficient, what will happen if they make a mistake with the profile. The very issue of changing the profile is telling. If a student in grade 10 realizes that the chosen direction does not suit them, this is not a failure of career guidance. This is a normal part of growing up. It is better for a teenager to test their strengths and change their path at school than to spend years at university studying a specialty they do not want to connect their life with. An academic lyceum should teach a student not to be afraid of choice and not to perceive a change of direction as defeat. This is an important skill for the modern world, where a professional path is rarely straight and unchanged. School should give a teenager the opportunity to try, analyze, consult, and make decisions with adult support. That is why the main risk of the reform is not the idea of academic lyceums itself. The risk is that it may be implemented formally institutions may be renamed, profiles may be created on paper, but the student may not be given real choice, the teacher support, the parents a clear explanation, and the community quality preparation.

If this does not happen, the academic lyceum can become a strong step for Ukrainian education. It can make upper secondary school more mature, practical, and honest about the needs of a teenager. Not all students have to move along one route. Some need deeper academic preparation for university, some need a professional path, and some need time and space to understand their own strengths. The reform of upper secondary school will not be easy. It affects habits, routes, school teams, community budgets, and parents’ expectations. But refusing to change also has a price. If upper secondary school remains as it was, many teenagers will continue to study without a clear understanding of why they need some subjects, how this is connected to their future profession, and where they can apply their knowledge.

Ukraine has already made a choice in favor of specialized upper secondary school. Now the main thing is not to reduce the reform to an administrative decision. Its success depends on whether communities can prepare the network, the state can provide roads and equipment, schools can support teachers, and parents can see in the lyceum not the loss of the old model, but a chance for children to receive better education. An academic lyceum should become not a symbol of forced changes, but a place where a teenager learns to make choices, take responsibility for them, and see the connection between learning and their own future. It is exactly this that will determine whether the reform becomes a real step forward, and not another difficult decision that society did not have time to understand.