With the coming of spring, new troubles came to the parents of future first-graders. Some schools have already started a first grade admission campaign. But for many, the question of which school to choose for a child is still open. Often an educational institution "by registration" is not suitable for a family. And then the parents are looking for ways to "promote" the baby to the coveted school. We advise you to first look at the laws. You may have all the legal rights to file documents exactly where you need to. We learned how to get to the right school without registration legally. To do this, we studied the length and breadth of the Enrollment Procedure for students, approved by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine
How to confirm your child's place of residence for the school
The procedure introduces such a concept as the "priority enrollment" of a child in school, and clearly sets out the grounds (i.e., guarantees) for it. They are as follows:
- the child lives in the school's service area;
- the child's siblings are attending this school;
- the child's parents work at this school;
- the child went to the kindergarten, which is considered a structural unit of this school.
The first of these points often raises many questions from parents. The first one is: how do you know which school you belong to geographically? The easiest way to find this information is on the local government website. According to the law, the assignment of a certain territory to each school (with a list of streets and houses) must "hang" on the official portal six months before the start of accepting documents. Residents of the capital can also find the distribution of districts by school on the website "Educational Map of Kiev".
The second question: what documents can be used to confirm that the child lives in the territory assigned to the school? Many are sure that this is only a registration. Therefore, they begin to look for "workarounds" for admission to the school. However, today it is normal to live outside a residence permit, especially in large cities. There are a lot of options to prove your "attachment" to a certain place of residence, and almost all of them, oddly enough, are provided for in the legislation.
The school does not have the right to request a residence permit if there is another confirmation of the child's residence / istockphoto.com
Documents that confirm the place of residence of the child or parents are defined in the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on the Procedure for keeping records of children of preschool and school age. It can be (optional):
- passport of one of the parents with registration at the place of service of the school
- certificate of registration of the child's place of residence (at the place of service by the school)
- a document that confirms the ownership of one of the parents to housing (at the place of service by the school)
- a court decision that gives one of the parents the right to move into the home (at the place of school service)
- a document that confirms the right to use the housing (for example, a rental agreement at the place where the school is served)
- any other document that contains information about the place of residence of the child and / or one of the parents.
The last item on the list makes it possible to confirm the place of residence even without a lease agreement: enough draw up an appropriate act on the child's residence, which will be signed by the head of the condominium and at least three neighbors.
Can a child go to the same school as a brother or sister
In overcrowded schools in Kiev and the suburbs of the capital, this point is sometimes deliberately "closed their eyes" and refused to parents, allegedly on the basis of a lack of free places in the school. Meanwhile, the Procedure clearly states: the child will be enrolled in first grade among the first, if the older children in the family study in this educational institution. Therefore, feel free to pick up the phone, find the corresponding document on the official website of the Verkhovna Rada and point your finger at it. Refusal to admit the child to school in this case is considered unlawful.
First of all, those children are enrolled in the school, whose brothers and sisters are already studying there.
Also, you will not be denied if your child went to kindergarten, which belongs to the same service area as the school. But here you need to know for sure that the kindergarten is a structural part of this particular educational institution. Not all kindergartens belong to schools, and not every school has a kindergarten. Information about this can be easily obtained from your local education department. Do this in advance so that you clearly understand which school you will definitely be enrolled in.
What is the Draw for First Grade Admissions
If you cannot brag about any of the above reasons for enrollment in your chosen school, then your child still has another chance to get into school on a legitimate basis. This is a draw. You submit your documents to the school in the prescribed manner by May 31st. The only thing is that you will not be asked for proof of residence. The package of documents will say that you are applying for free seats. Now all that remains is to wait for these places to appear.
Children who fall into the "high priority" category will be automatically enrolled in school until June 1. After that, the school forms a list of students, which is most often posted on an information board or on the school door. If, according to the results of the admission campaign, there are free places in the first grades - within two days on the school website or education departments publish information on the date and place of the draw for applicants for vacant places. Also, be sure to lay out a list of these applicants - be sure to check that the name of your child is among them.
The draw for first grade is very similar to the lottery / istockphoto.com
The draw will take place from 5 to 15 June. This is a public event, which, according to the law, can be attended by everyone. The drawing of lots is carried out by a commission of those people. It is very similar to a lottery: numbers (balls, cards, pieces of paper) are dropped into a transparent drum, which correspond to the numbering of the list of those wishing to get to the empty seats. If your number has been drawn, congratulations. The child will be enrolled in school by June 15th. It is important to know that you are not required to be present at the draw, even if you are taking part in it. The commission fixes the number (and therefore the name and surname of the child), and it will no longer be possible to dispute the result of such a selection.
You will also be interested in reading:
Child after kindergarten and home: who will do better at school?
5 types of children who will find it difficult at school: is yours among them?
"I don't want to study": how to motivate a child to study
