A large number of Romanian-language high schools in Ukraine’s Chernivtsi region will be shut down beginning September 1, 2027, as part of an upcoming education system reorganization, according to Aurica Bojescu, executive secretary of the Interregional Union “Romanian Community of Ukraine”.
Bojescu stated that the Chernivtsi Regional Council has approved a new school network, which will allow the operation of only four Romanian-language high schools and nine mixed-language institutions. The remaining Romanian-language high schools will be located in Chernivtsi, Hliboca, Ostritsa, and Herța.
“Currently, there are 32 high schools, 12 of which are mixed. Out of 20 Romanian-language high schools, only four will remain. Many children will have no options — if they want to continue their studies and attend university, they will have to enroll in Ukrainian-language schools. It’s a very difficult situation, and action must be taken,”
said Bojescu, emphasizing that community leaders have requested at least one Romanian-language high school be maintained in each ethnic Romanian locality.
The council’s decision comes despite strong opposition from the Romanian minority, which argues that the move violates the right to education in one’s mother tongue.
“This reform will eventually lead to the disappearance of middle schools as well, because parents will prefer to send their children to Ukrainian-language schools to ease their transition to high school. In the so-called mixed schools, instruction will be in Ukrainian, with Romanian taught only as a subject — Romanian language and Romanian and world literature. When the school in the mother tongue disappears, the language itself is at risk. This is a violation of both the Ukrainian Constitution and human rights, which guarantee education in one’s native language,”
warned Neculai Costaș, a Romanian language and literature teacher in Chernivtsi.
The reform will affect historic Romanian villages such as Mahala, Tărășeni, Noua Suliță, Hliboca, Crasna, Pătrăuți, Storojineț, and Mămăliga, leaving no Romanian-language high schools in the Siret Valley area.
Community representatives have called on Ukrainian authorities — and on European institutions — to intervene in order to protect the cultural and linguistic rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine.
