MES deprived contractual postgraduate students of the right to deferment: the Verkhovna Rada reacted sharply

25 June 2024 08:30

Against the backdrop of data showing that the number of men wishing to study for postgraduate degrees has reached unprecedented levels, the Ministry of Education and Science decided to fight against “evasion”. Minister Oksen Lisovyi issued a special order depriving full-time postgraduate students of the right to study on a contract basis. What the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada says about this and how the educational community reacts to the innovations introduced in the midst of the admission campaign, "Komersant Ukrainian" found out.

Special order of the Ministry of Education and Science

The Ministry of Education and Science has amended the Procedure for Admission to Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Arts Degrees in 2024.

They were introduced by a special order of the Ministry of Education, adopted on the basis of special powers granted by the Law “On Education” for the period of martial law.

The main innovations include the following:

it will be possible to enrol in postgraduate studies on a contract basis only for part-time or evening studies, which do not give the right to deferment;
the number of state-funded places in postgraduate studies will be increased from 2000 to 7,000

What provoked the drastic changes in the rules?

Statistics. Specifically, the number of men wishing to become postgraduate students.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science, before the start of the full-scale war, about 7-8 thousand people were enrolled in postgraduate studies (both state-funded and contract) every year.

In 2024, 246,189 people registered to take the EIE, which is taken by both master’s and PhD applicants.

79% of them were men. Almost half of them – 91,561 people – are applying to become PhD students.

What the Verkhovna Rada says

A drastic change in the rules of the game, already at the stage when applicants have registered for testing, was condemned by the relevant Verkhovna Rada Committee.

According to MP Yulia Hryshyna, the Ministry of Education and Science did nothing to counteract evasion before the start of the admission campaign, and now it is provoking an increase in budget expenditures by its decision.

“The third year of a full-scale invasion. For the third year in a row, the number of men using postgraduate studies to evade mobilisation has been increasing. This is the third year that the Ministry of Education has been able to:

Make it impossible for universities to recruit postgraduate students in excess of the licensed number – but it hasn’t.
Reduce the licensed number of postgraduate students – but no.
To check all universities and punish those who sell admission and postgraduate studies – but no.
To change the Admission Rules in time – but no.
There are many other things that could have been done – but no!

It is possible to simply change the Admission Procedure when people are already taking exams. And to more than double the number of state-funded places. Because there are extra funds in a country at war. And to cancel full-time contract education,”

– she commented.

Reaction of Ukrainians

Social media are now actively commenting and discussing the innovations of the Ministry of Education and Science, especially their appearance at the height of the admission campaign.

Many are outraged by this:

“It’s interesting to play football when the rules change on the fly.” “Exams have started today, and tomorrow there will be changes. The rules of the game are changing every minute,”

– ukrainians commented, pointing out that this decision of the Ministry of Education and Science “increases corruption risks when applying for postgraduate studies on a state-funded basis”.

Some participants in discussions of the innovations on Facebook add that even “the new law on mobilisation allows full-time contract postgraduate students to have a deferment”. Therefore, they sincerely do not understand and even accuse Lisovyi of grossly violating the law by restricting the right to education of “a significant number of young men who really want to study”.

We would like to add that the admission campaign is in full swing, and many applicants are wondering how to calculate their competitive score to understand their chances of getting into the university of their choice The answer to this question will help you avoid unpleasant surprises and prepare your documents correctly. To find out how to calculate the competitive score, read Kommersant Ukrainian article “How to calculate the competitive score for admission: instructions from the Ministry of Education”.