School principals are required to promptly notify law enforcement and child protection services about instances of bullying.
Failure to report such incidents may lead to administrative penalties, as explained by the educational ombudsperson, Nadya Leshchik.
She emphasized that school and kindergarten directors must address all complaints, whether verbal or written, regarding violence or abuse against children. The law sets a deadline of one day for responding to such complaints.
If the principal identifies signs of bullying, they must immediately inform the child's parents or guardians and submit a written report to the police and child protection services.
Nadya Leshchik stressed that this notification is crucial for holding perpetrators and their parents (in the case of students) accountable. Following such a report, police may open an investigation, and the court will determine whether the child has indeed experienced bullying.
"Not every report from the principal may pertain specifically to bullying; sometimes it may be a one-time act of violence, but such incidents cannot be ignored — they also constitute abuse, and the police will decide whether there are grounds for opening a criminal case or for drafting an administrative violation report."
At the time of receiving such a report, only the police have the authority to classify the abusive behavior toward the child, not the educational institution's leader.
According to her, school directors or committees reviewing bullying cases do not have the authority to conclude whether a child has been bullied, but they can identify signs of mistreatment to present in their report to the police and decide on further actions within the educational institution.
If a school principal fails to report to the police, they may face administrative responsibility under part 5 of Article 173-4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In this case, the principal may be penalized with a fine (ranging from 425 to 850 hryvnias) or corrective labor for up to one month with a deduction of up to 20% of their salary.
Court practice shows that offenders are most often fined.
Complaints to the educational ombudsperson's office indicate that sometimes directors do not report to law enforcement out of fear for the institution's reputation or that the situation will become widely known.
Additionally, some principals mistakenly believe that reports of bullying should first be reviewed by a special committee.
"However, ignoring such situations does not resolve the issue; it only exacerbates the problem and leads to negative outcomes for all participants in the educational process, particularly the institution's leader," says Nadya Leshchik.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education and Science established a mechanism for quickly reporting bullying in schools. Students or their parents can fill out a short form and submit an electronic complaint.