The director of the Mykolaiv music school complained about the reduction in classes: «Children are being deprived of creativity»

Larysa Stoliarova, director of Children's Music School №5 in Mykolaiv, said that the school is cutting back on teaching hours and bonuses for teachers.

In turn, Yurii Liubarov, head of culture at the Mykolaiv City Council, explained in a comment to NikVesti that due to the city's budget shortfall, the work plans of all cultural institutions, including libraries, palaces of culture, houses of culture and art schools, are being adjusted.

«As the director of a music school that is preparing for its 55th anniversary in 2027, I have to tell the bitter truth: primary arts education in our city is under threat of destruction. Due to the huge budget deficit, we are already seeing a reduction in hours, workload and teacher bonuses. There is a real threat that there will be no enrolment of students for 2026-2027 at all,» said Larysa Stoliarova.

In addition, she appealed to the city leadership, deputies and international foundations not to allow Mykolaiv's arts education to «die quietly».

«We understand that there is a hole in the budget. We understand that arts education is not compulsory and that there are fewer children in the city than before the war. But will the lives of Mykolaiv's children be better if we take away their last island of creativity and mental health? If we disappear today, we will lose the identity and future of our city tomorrow. Music must be heard in Mykolaiv. Not because it is entertainment, but because it is our weapon against trauma and fear,» concluded Larysa Stoliarova.

In turn, Yurii Lyubarov, head of culture at the Mykolaiv City Council, explained that teaching hours may be temporarily reduced, but the minimum part of the programme approved by the Ministry of Culture will be carried out.

«Some schools are in one situation, some are in another, because they have different principals, different staff, and different management schemes. Some have been saving for a long time, some have already planned how to work in difficult financial years. Some have approached these issues more cautiously. There may be temporary reductions in teaching hours, but everything that is minimally required by the curriculum and approved by the Ministry of Culture will definitely be implemented. We hope that over time the financial situation in the city will stabilise and we will be able to gradually make management decisions. Of course, it is impossible to return to the previous budget level, as it is decreasing every year and the city's population has not grown since the start of the war,» said Yurii Liubarov in a comment to NikVesti

As is known, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to increase the salaries of teaching staff by 30% from January 2026 and by a further 20% from September. According to Yurii Liubarov, in February-March, all cultural institutions will be adjusting their work plans.

«In December, the state increased the salaries of art school teachers and directors by 40%, but did not allocate additional funds for this, leaving the task to local budgets. We are, of course, glad that people's pay rates are being increased, but all this is financed exclusively from the local budget, depending on the availability of funds [...] Today, the city is working to close this financial gap. This issue concerns not only the cultural sector, but everyone. While these processes are ongoing in February–March, there is indeed some adjustment of the work plans of all institutions: libraries, palaces of culture, houses of culture and art schools. If someone emotionally declares that culture is being destroyed and so on, that everything is lost, this is only the opinion and emotions of specific people. I can speak about the facts. In fact, today, education will continue and is continuing,» added Yurii Liubarov.

There is no money in the Mykolaiv budget for the state-initiated increase in teachers' salaries: what is known

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that there is no money in the Mykolaiv budget for the state-initiated increase in teachers' salaries.

As is known, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to increase the salaries of teaching staff by 30% from January 2026 and by another 20% from September.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych says that there is no money in the city budget to increase salaries, as the city is short of 1.5 billion hryvnias this year. The mayor believes that it is only possible to increase teachers' salaries with support from the state budget.

At the end of 2025, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that the problem of low salaries in the city council is acute. The difference between the salaries of local government officials and civil servants is 50-100%, he said. Therefore, the mayor explained, salaries for officials can only be increased with financial assistance from the state budget.

As for the new budget for 2026, according to Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, it is essentially a survival budget and does not cover all the needs of the community.

In total, the budget revenues for 2026 amount to 5 billion 546 million hryvnias, while the total budget expenditures amount to 5 billion 275 million 353 thousand 815 hryvnias.

To meet the city's needs, at the session on 30 December, deputies appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a request to provide an additional subsidy from the state budget.

The deputies also appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to increase the salaries of cultural workers. The document refers to the critically low level of wages in the cultural sector.

According to the city's calculations, its own budget revenues for 2026 are only sufficient to cover 82.5% of actual needs, and the financial resource deficit exceeds 1 billion 140 million hryvnias.