THE ROLE OF THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF UKRAINE (at the end of the 20th – the beginning of the 21st centuries)

The purpose of the research is to determine the influence and significance of the local governments in the development of education in Ukraine from 1991 to 2023. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, authorial objectivity, multifactoriality, historical-genetic, historical-typological and historic-systemic methods. The Scientific Novelty. The impact of local government reforms on the education system in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries was studied for the first time. The Conclusions. Therefore, the history of local government educational policy in independent Ukraine can be divided into three periods. The first one (1991 – 1997) was a period of uncertainty regarding the competencies and powers of local government bodies in the field of education due to the variability of legislation, fluctuations between community and state models of local self-government, as well as a severe economic crisis in the country. The second one (1997 – 2014) was the period of establishment of the state-public model of local self-government, the distribution of functions for the management, financing and control of education between state authorities and local governments, and the growth of the role of local governments in financing education, which covered 60% of expenditures on educational institutions. At the same time, education funding remained low due to low local budget revenues. The third one (from 2014) is the period of decentralization (administrative), educational, and budgetary reforms, as a result of which the issue of education has become one of the central issues in the activities of local government bodies. This period is characterized by increased investment in education, modernization of the education network, improving the quality and accessibility of education, and ensuring its inclusiveness. Local governments form strategic objectives for the development of education as one of the main ones for the further development of territorial communities, and therefore plan significant expenditures on education – 40–60% of their budgets. Key words: local self-government, decentralization reform, education reform, educational policy, local self-government development model.