Ukraine has changed the procedure for keeping records of children of preschool and school age. According to the new requirements, educational institutions must notify law enforcement agencies of cases when a child is not involved in the educational process, and children's services must respond promptly to such reports.

The innovation was announced by the Education Ombudsman Nadiya Leshchyk.

The updated rules strengthen the interaction between schools, education authorities, police and children's services. If educational staff find that a child of school age is not attending school, they must transmit the relevant information to the police via electronic means of communication.

In addition, such information should be immediately entered into the automated management information system, where a child's profile is formed and his or her educational status is recorded.

Employees of educational authorities who receive generalised data on children not involved in education are obliged to transmit relevant information to child services. This can be done both through an automated data management system and through electronic communication channels.

It is expected that the updated mechanism of interaction between educational institutions, authorities, police and children's services will allow for more effective identification of children who do not attend school and facilitate their quicker return to school.