Head of Medical Law Practice
Specializes in business licensing, healthcare law, and corporate law. Has extensive experience in obtaining licenses and permits across various industries, providing legal support to healthcare institutions and pharmaceutical companies, particularly in licensing, corporate, tax, and employment matters, as well as assisting foreign companies entering the Ukrainian market.
School and Online School Licence in Ukraine: Establishing and Legalising a Private Educational Institution
Launching your own private lyceum, primary school or distance learning platform requires completion of the mandatory state licensing procedure. Providing educational services without the relevant authorisation constitutes a serious breach of the law, entails fines under Article 164 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, and entirely deprives the institution of the right to issue state-standard certificates and school-leaving diplomas to graduates. Prikhodko & Partners provides comprehensive legal support for educational activity licensing: from an initial compliance review of the institution’s concept to entering the licensing file into the Unified State Electronic Database on Education (EDEBO) on the first submission.
Who Needs a General Secondary Education Licence
Obtaining authorisation to conduct educational activities is mandatory for the following categories of clients:
- Founders of private schools and lyceums: entrepreneurs establishing conventional learning environments (primary schools, gymnasiums or lyceums) with their own or rented classrooms.
- Organisers of distance learning schools and online schools: owners of innovative EdTech platforms planning to provide lawful online education throughout Ukraine and abroad, with the right to issue official report cards and certificates.
- Existing learning hubs and preparation centres: organisations already providing tutoring, courses or alternative educational services that seek to operate within a fully legitimate legal framework.
- Corporate and international lyceums: investors registering private secondary education institutions to teach proprietary curricula or programmes developed by foreign partners.
Three Levels of School Education: Why Three Separate Document Packages Are Submitted
Under the Law of Ukraine “On Complete General Secondary Education” and the current Licensing Conditions, general secondary education is structurally divided into three consecutive stages:
- Primary education: grades 1–4 (Stage I);
- Basic secondary education: grades 5–9 (gymnasium, Stage II);
- Specialised secondary education: grades 10–11 (12) (lyceum, Stage III).
An important procedural detail: the licensing authority reviews the documents and adopts a separate decision for each stage. Therefore, if you are establishing a full-cycle institution covering grades 1 to 11, three separate document packages must be prepared and submitted to the competent authority (three separate applications, three separate document inventories, three separate sets of guarantee commitments, and personnel documents).
How to Open an Online School in Ukraine: The Written Commitments Procedure
The term “online school” is not defined as a separate category in the legal framework: distance learning is considered a form of obtaining complete general secondary education. Consequently, the same educational licence is required as for a conventional school.
Establishing a physical school requires strict compliance with the State Building Standards of Ukraine (DBN) concerning the availability of gyms, outdoor activity areas, catering facilities, medical rooms and library collections.
To establish a distance learning school, the law allows the licence applicant to submit written commitments in free form regarding staffing, material and technical resources, teaching resources and compliance with accessibility requirements. This means that, at the outset, the founder of an online school only needs to:
- have a registered legal entity (LLC) and an official administrative address;
- appoint a school principal who meets all statutory qualification requirements;
- develop and make publicly available a school website with an approved structure;
- provide the prescribed written commitments instead of extensive information on equipped gyms and canteens.
Opening a new online school from scratch is several times easier than subsequently expanding an existing licence to cover additional levels, where extensive detailed information is already required.
Qualification Requirements for a School Principal
An exhaustive list of mandatory criteria applies to the position of head of a general secondary education institution:
| Criterion / Requirement | Requirement and supporting evidence |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Ukrainian citizenship only |
| Educational qualifications | Complete higher education at no lower than a Master’s or Specialist degree level |
| Proficiency in the state language | Confirmed by an education diploma and an official state certificate of Ukrainian language proficiency |
| Health status | A personal medical record book in the prescribed format with valid entries by doctors |
| Teaching experience | The mandatory requirement for 3 years of experience does not apply to founders of private and corporate educational institutions |
Mandatory Requirements for the School’s Official Website
Under Article 30 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” and paragraph 63 of the Licensing Conditions, the institution’s website must already be operational when the application is submitted. The website must contain:
- a scanned copy of the educational institution’s charter;
- its structure, governing bodies and staff;
- educational programmes, a list of curriculum components and the language of instruction;
- licensed capacity (the maximum number of pupils the school may teach);
- admission rules for children and internal regulations;
- accessibility arrangements for the premises for persons with special needs;
- tuition fees and a list of additional paid services;
- a policy and comprehensive action plan to prevent bullying and violence.
Stages of Opening a School with Prikhodko & Partners
- Corporate structuring: registering an LLC with an appropriate name (including the words “school” or “lyceum”) and designating the relevant education code under Ukraine’s Classification of Economic Activities (KVED) as its principal business activity.
- Reviewing the principal’s documents: expert examination of the diploma, verification of the state language proficiency certificate and medical documents.
- Preparing the commitment packages: developing three separate document packages.
- Submission to the licensing authority: supporting the application review by the Kyiv City Military Administration (KCMA) or the relevant regional military (state) administration.
- Obtaining the order:/ monitoring the issuance of the order granting an indefinite licence, supporting payment of the government fee and activating the institution in EDEBO.
Contact the lawyers at Prykhodko & Partners to determine the requirements for your establishment and prepare the documents for obtaining a license.
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Answer a few questions
Can a school or online school be registered as a sole proprietor?
Under the Law of Ukraine “On Complete General Secondary Education”, a general secondary education institution operates exclusively as a legal entity, most commonly a limited liability company (LLC) or a private institution. Therefore, the law does not provide for registering a school as a sole proprietor.
Is it mandatory to rent a building with a gym and a canteen for an online school?
No. If teaching takes place exclusively remotely, an applicant for a licence to commence operations has the legal right to submit written commitments to provide the material facilities when in-person classes begin.
What government fee is payable for a school licence?
The state duty is 10% of the subsistence minimum for working-age persons for each educational level and is payable within 10 working days after publication of the order granting the licence.
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