School leaders are required to report cases of bullying to law enforcement and child protection services.
Failure to disclose such incidents may lead to administrative penalties, as stated by educational ombudsman Nadia Leshchik.
She explained that school and kindergarten directors must address verbal or written reports of violence or mistreatment of children. The law mandates a short timeframe of one day to respond after receiving a complaint.
If signs of bullying are detected, the director must promptly inform the child's parents or guardians and submit a written statement to the police and child services.
Nadia Leshchik emphasized that such notifications are crucial for holding offenders and their parents (if students are involved) accountable. Following such a report, police can initiate an investigation, and the court will later determine whether the child has indeed experienced bullying.
“Not every report (from the institution's leader – ed.) may relate specifically to bullying; it could sometimes be a one-time act of violence, yet it should not be ignored – this is also mistreatment, and it is the police that will determine if there are grounds for opening a criminal case or drawing up an administrative offense protocol.
At the moment of receiving such reports, the police have the authority to classify mistreatment of a child, not the educational institution's administration,” explained the educational ombudsman.
According to her, directors or committees reviewing bullying cases in schools do not have the right to conclude whether a child has actually been bullied, but they can identify signs of harassment to present in their report to the police and make decisions regarding further actions within the institution.
If a school director fails to report to the police, they may be held administratively liable under part 5 of Article 173-4 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. In such cases, the director faces a penalty in the form of a fine (from 425 to 850 hryvnias) or corrective labor for up to one month with a deduction of up to 20% of their salary.
Judicial practice shows that courts most often impose fines on offenders.
Appeals to the office of the educational ombudsman indicate that some leaders do not report to law enforcement due to fears about the institution's reputation or concerns that the situation may become public.
Moreover, directors mistakenly believe that they should only contact the police after a special committee has reviewed the bullying report.
“However, the silence surrounding such situations does not resolve the issue; it only exacerbates the problem and leads to negative consequences for all participants in the educational process, including the institution's leader,” believes Nadia Leshchik.
Previously, the Ministry of Education and Science created a mechanism for quickly reporting bullying incidents in schools. Students or their parents can fill out a short questionnaire and submit a complaint electronically.