The day Ukraine's new school education law took effect
A retrospective on the law on complete general secondary education and the entry restrictions announced two days earlier.
What did 18 March 2020 mean for Ukraine's schools? On that date the law "On complete general secondary education" came into force, marking a formal change in the legal framework for the country's secondary education.
The day did not unfold in isolation. Two days earlier, on 16 March 2020, Ukraine had barred foreigners and stateless persons from entering the country. The ban applied from 00:00 and was set to run until 3 April, a measure taken in response to the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 in Ukraine.
The two developments sat side by side in the public record of those days: one a long-term legislative change to the school system, the other an urgent restriction on movement across the border. Together they showed a government handling reform and emergency measures at the same time.
