School "gold" after 27 years: why the story of an honor student’s fight caused public outcry

Against the backdrop of today’s major events, disputes, and anxieties, Ukrainians were unexpectedly touched by the story of a woman who, 22 years after finishing school, secured recognition of her right to a gold medal, and 27 years later finally saw it. The court, the enforcement service, changed her diploma and brought the highest school distinction to Natalia Sokolenko’s side, even though it is no longer in effect. Yet Natalia continues to defend justice in the way she sees it.

Why did this private case gain such resonance and what drives people to cling to past wrongs — a reporter from Korotko pro asked.

The social elevator and the struggle at its approaches

In 1999 Natalia Sokolenko graduated with honors from General Education School No. 3 in Kremenchuk, but she did not receive the gold medal she had justifiably hoped for. Graduates from that period and of the Soviet school say it was a typical situation when a child for the first time ran up against the nuances of adulthood.

“I graduated from school in 1994,” recalls Kyiv resident Nadiya Yasnovenko. “There were three medalists from Class ‘A’ and me and my friend from Class ‘B’. The district education office decided that five medals for one school was too many and allocated four; my friend was left out. Her parents were ordinary people, and only thanks to my mother, who worked in the media and knew how to bang on officials’ doors, Tanya received the distinction.”

For a long time a gold or silver medal was less a matter of prestige than a social elevator. A top grade on the first exam guaranteed a pass to university because you could take only one entrance exam instead of three. People recall talented children being deliberately held back with fours in upper grades, while some “good students” after middle school suddenly became straight-A students. Family status, financial situation, and parents’ closeness to the school administration mattered a great deal. Still, most conclude that losing a distinction caused despair and tears but did not ruin the lives of self-sufficient individuals and ultimately meant nothing.

“I lived without the medal I deserved for 51 years after graduating. I built myself as a professional and as a person, have wonderful children and great grandchildren. I organized many class reunions. I remember my teachers with gratitude — those who gave me ‘5’ and the teacher who, for no reason, gave me a ‘4’ in ‘mohuchiy russkiy yazyk’… What happened in Kremenchuk is not a fight for justice. I call it ‘had nothing better to do, so she ran to the courts,’” wrote Facebook user Liubov Domash.

However, there are also those who support Natalia in her principled stance.

“It’s sad that a person has to fight for her gold medal. She should be thanked for high academic results, for her contribution to the school’s ranking, for the image component… It’s so sad to see another devaluation of human achievements,” wrote Rivne resident Mariana Malchyk.

Not just any presentation, but with ceremony

How losing the medal affected Natalia Sokolenko’s biography and why she appealed to the Kriukiv District Court of Kremenchuk only in 2021 are unknown. In conversations with journalists the woman stubbornly avoids talking about how her life turned out after school. A correspondent from Korotko pro also managed to contact the protagonist of the Kremenchuk newspaper’s story, but we did not get an interview. Natalia spoke politely, a little cheerfully, a little ironically, made it clear she takes differences of public opinion in stride, but answered nothing of substance. She postponed all comments and discussions until “after the main thing happens.”

The case we found in the OpenDataBot registries did not clarify matters either. There was no dispute between the parties; the lawsuit was resolved by a settlement with the then-principal of the gymnasium. The educational institution undertook to order a reprint of the certificate of complete secondary education with distinction and to award Sokolenko the gold medal “For special achievements in learning.”

Again, for unknown reasons the obligations were not fulfilled. This happened only after a complaint to the enforcement service and under new school leadership. The medal and the diploma bearing the distinction were brought by the principal and deputy principal of the gymnasium on 20 August to the office of the court bailiff. That’s where the dispute arose, which gave this story public attention with a hint of scandal.

The graduate from 1999 refused to take the medal. She demanded that the distinction be presented to her in a solemn setting — as provided by procedure. And procedure was not mentioned in the court decision, first of all. Second, on the state level the medals themselves had already been abolished. Ceremonies for secondary school graduates, traditionally held in Kremenchuk, are the initiative of the city mayor. Natalia Sokolenko wants that initiative applied to her.

“The enforcement service drew up a report that the complainant refused to receive the documents and to sign the report,” the gymnasium staff told Korotko pro. “We have no authority to order the mayor to hold a ceremonial awarding. Orally we informed the education department, which notified the mayor.”

“I want Vitaliy — the mayor (Vitaliy Maletsky) — to call me and negotiate with me. That’s all I understand about what the situation should be right now,” Natalia Sokolenko told us.

An “unfinished gestalt” and its consequences

This somewhat odd and unique story resonates because it, to some extent, concerns each of us. We all have unforgettable grievances, insults, pains, unfinished emotional situations — what psychologists call an “unfinished gestalt.” Is it worth clinging to the past, even when it stings but means nothing today?

“It depends on the individual case. Some don’t care whether they received a distinction because life worked out. For someone the distinction fit into their value system. Everyone has their own set of beliefs. What is included there is important and valuable, even if others consider it insignificant,” says PhD in psychology Ilona Rashkovska.

The practicing psychologist also notes that hurts that have been endured but not fully processed have a very negative effect on a person’s personality, inner state, actions, and relationships.

“If we look at the world through the prism of insults, we become both socially vulnerable and socially aggressive. Therefore these issues must be worked on in any lawful way. For some a psychologist will help; for others the embodiment of justice may be a court. If some grievance prevents a person from living in peace, that state must be overcome. Otherwise an internal conflict will grow that a person cannot resolve by willpower alone.”

There is also an explanation for the long interval that sometimes passes between the wrong and the attempt to resolve it.

“Everyone has crisis periods in life associated either with certain events or with a subconscious desire to evaluate oneself as a person, to review one’s life. You can live for a long time with an old grievance by pushing it into the corner of consciousness. But something happens, a trigger occurs, and old emotions break through the dam. The internal conflict transforms into an external one.”

Many call Natalia Sokolenko’s desire to get the recognition she was deprived of 27 years ago unjustified ambition, or even use harsher descriptions. But there is also this point of view:

“A ceremonial presentation is necessary to explain to the educational community the drama/tragic nature of educational errors or violations. And if justice has prevailed — it is important to announce it ceremonially, because that rarely happens,” believes Doctor of Philosophical Sciences and education expert Serhiy Klepko.

History of the matter

From pure gold to “SV”

Gold and silver medals on the territory of present-day Ukraine were first introduced in 1828 for graduates of boys’ gymnasiums for excellent achievements and exemplary behavior. With the appearance of girls’ gymnasiums, in 1870, the distinction was extended to girls.

After the events of 1917 the Bolsheviks abolished the medals as a “bourgeois relic.” However, in 1945 they were reintroduced. In the 1945/1946 academic year and until 1953 medals were struck from pure gold and silver, then conservatively switched to copper-nickel alloys with a thin precious metal plating.

But the value of the school distinction was not in the metal. Medalists received huge privileges when entering universities. They were admitted based on an interview without exams or based on the first exam if they scored a “five.” If a privileged applicant received a “four” or “three,” they were allowed to take the remaining exams and, with equal points, had priority over ordinary applicants. The difference between a gold and silver medal was only that, with equal chances, the “gold” holders had the advantage.

This practice passed from the Soviet Union to independent Ukraine and existed until 2008, when external independent testing (ZNO) was finally introduced. The Ministry of Education canceled medals as a “pass to universities”; absolute academic achievers had to take tests like all graduates. Only a bonus advantage for equal scores remained in effect.

After the new Law “On Higher Education” was adopted in 2015, medals completely lost their practical significance for university admission. Distinctions were counted as additional points only in vocational and technical education institutions.

In mid-February 2025 the Ministry of Education’s order on the complete abolition of gold and silver medals came into force. History turned full circle: they were recognized as a “relic of the Soviet era,” unnecessary, costly and even a corrupt element, because schools artificially “produced” medalists to raise their ratings.

Now in educational databases top students are marked with the code “SV.” That means they received a “Certificate of Complete General Secondary Education with Distinction.” At the same time, communities retain the right to produce their own distinctions for the best pupils — certificates, diplomas, medals, or pins — and to establish award rituals.