The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) has clarified that students who drop out of university and enter another institution for the same level of education lose the right to deferment. This is stated in a letter from the ministry to the heads of educational institutions, the Ministry of Defence and the state-owned Inforesource, according to Komersant ukrainskyi
Clarification from the Ministry of Education and Science
Under current law, students pursuing higher education are entitled to a deferral from mobilisation, which allows them to complete their studies without interruption. However, as the Ministry of Education and Science emphasised, this right is not unconditional and depends on a number of factors.
The Ministry stressed that the deferment is granted only once for each level of education – bachelor’s or master’s degree. If a student withdraws from an educational institution and re-enters the same level of education at another university, he or she loses the right to deferment. This means that re-entry into another institution or another speciality at the same level of education may lead to a call-up for military service.
At the same time, the Ministry referred to part 2 of Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, which lists the levels of education in Ukraine. It looks like this:
The levels of education are:
- preschool education;
- primary education;
- basic secondary education;
- specialised secondary education;
- first (initial) level of vocational (vocational-technical) education;
- second (basic) level of professional (vocational) education;
- third (higher) level of professional (vocational) education;
- professional higher education;
- initial level (short cycle) of higher education;
- first (bachelor’s) level of higher education;
- second (master’s) level of higher education;
- third (educational-scientific/educational-creative) level of higher education.
The MES calls this list a “sequence” and even provides explanations in comments to social media posts.
“…the law stipulates that the right to deferment is granted to full-time students if they do not violate the sequence of obtaining levels of education, as defined in Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”,
– the Ministry of Education and Science writes.
Follow us on Telegram: the main news in a nutshell
Reaction
This interpretation of the law by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine does not suit many stakeholders. Thus, on 7 June, a petition against the application of this interpretation appeared on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
“…the certificate introduces additional criteria for the sequence of education not defined by the current legislation. In particular, it is not consistent to obtain a bachelor’s degree if a student is expelled from previous studies without obtaining the appropriate level of education (i.e., a diploma) and re-enter higher education institutions to obtain the appropriate level of education. The same statements will also be made for other educational levels. It is also worth noting that the current legislation does not provide for obtaining a master’s degree without a bachelor’s degree, including obtaining a doctorate without a master’s degree,”
– the petition says, in particular.
However, in two months, only 827 users out of the required 25,000 signed the petition.
As reported by earlier, the Ministry of Education and Science deprived contractual postgraduate students of the deferment. Later, the State Regulatory Service allegedly recognised the relevant order as unlawful, but the Ministry of Justice did not cancel it.