New mobilization rules await Ukraine: second education will not save from the army
21 April 17:19
ANALYSIS
The Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft law on amendments to Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization training and mobilization” regarding the rights of teachers and students No. 13193, which proposes to deprive some students over 25 years old and some teachers of the deferral from mobilization, which was previously initiated by the Ministry of Education. "Komersant Ukrainian" found out who might not graduate and join the Armed Forces.
The draft law proposes to enshrine the rule that they are not subject to military service during mobilization in a special period:
- students of vocational (vocational-technical) education institutions and students of professional higher education who started their studies no later than the year of reaching the age limit for being sent for basic military service, as defined in Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service”, and study in full-time or dual forms;
- students of higher education institutions who are studying within the estimated period of completion of the educational program in full-time or dual forms;
- postgraduate students, doctors (pharmacists) – interns, doctors – residents.
The rule applies to students in educational institutions (research institutions) of Ukraine who are studying for the first time at a level higher than the previous one in accordance with the sequence set out in Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”.
In other words, if a person aged 25 or older graduated from high school and entered a vocational school, college or university, he or she is entitled to a deferment. However, if a person of conscription age, having already completed his education at a school, college or university, re-enters an institution of the same level, he will not receive a deferment. For example, a second or third degree is no longer a reason not to serve. Neither is getting a master’s degree again, even in a different specialty. And entering a vocational school after graduation will not be allowed for a person liable for military service at all.
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Which students will not be subject to mobilization
The explanatory note to the draft law states that with the start of full-scale aggression, the legal provision on avoiding mobilization was used by a significant number of conscripts who already had a certain level of education and entered educational institutions in 2022-2024 at a level of education equal to or even lower than the one they had already obtained.
“Over the past six months, the number of vocational education students (up to 17,338) and higher education students (up to 75,618) among men liable for military service over the age of 25 who are studying consistently on the basis of basic or complete general secondary education and have a deferral from mobilization has increased significantly. This trend requires a response and legislative regulation to determine the age of students eligible for deferment,”
– the draft law says.
At the same time, students who do not study in a sequential order, as well as those who entered foreign universities after February 24, 2022, continue to try to challenge in court the legal provision on the deferral of mobilization, which does not apply to these categories. And the courts often side with the students, ordering the Ministry of Education and Science and the technical administrator of the EDEBO, the State Enterprise “Inforesource”, to make appropriate changes to the register. The activation of the lawyer community and the growing number of lawsuits filed by students require legislative changes that will make it impossible to challenge the current legal provisions on military duty and mobilization.
In order to ensure the national interests of Ukraine, to avoid the possibility of using education as a way to evade mobilization (including for students with complete general secondary education aged 25 and over), and to eliminate gaps in the legislation that allow conscripts to avoid mobilization, it is proposed to amend paragraph 1 of part three of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On Mobilization Training and Mobilization”.
“Just say so – “everyone goes to serve”
It is no secret that education is used as an excuse to avoid mobilization. But previously, little attention was paid to this because of the decreasing number of educational institutions and the decreasing interest in education. As former Minister of Education Stanislav Nikolayenko told , if there used to be about 3 million students, now there are barely a million. And everyone understands why many have rushed to study.
“What kind of person is a person who graduates from a technical school and goes back to school, or, having a bachelor’s degree, goes back to get a bachelor’s degree? It’s one thing to move on: from college to university, from bachelor’s to master’s degree. Nowadays, an adult doesn’t need to sit down at a desk to get a working specialty – they can be trained in short courses at an enterprise. So, on the one hand, this is a logical decision. But on the other hand, we understand why this is done. Otherwise, we get double standards. Just say it out loud – everyone must be drafted and everyone goes to serve. In 1941-45, there was no deferment, only for certain specialties,”
– the official emphasizes.
Nikolayenko, who is now the president of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, also notes that students over the age of 25 at their university mostly enrolled in the master’s program. There are about 500 of them today. This is not much. It used to be more – 300 have already been expelled for failing, including those over 25.
“I understand that these measures are related to the difficulty of manning the army, but a balanced approach is needed here. Because there are those who can serve now – the police, who are now catching students or teachers for some signatures. They should be in the forefront and set an example. Today, unfortunately, we have a shortage of students at the military department. There used to be 800 students, now there are 400. We already have 26 dead students, and up to 200 among teachers and graduates,”
– emphasizes Stanislav Nikolayenko.
The circle of teachers with “armor” has been expanded
The list of teachers who can count on a deferment has also been determined. This category includes:
- researchers, research and teaching staff of higher education institutions;
- researchers of scientific institutions and organizations;
- research and teaching staff of professional higher education institutions who have a scientific degree;
- pedagogical workers of institutions of professional higher education, vocational (vocational-technical), general secondary and out-of-school education who work at the main place of work at least 0.75 rate;
- teachers of state and municipal out-of-school education institutions who, as of January 1, 2025, worked and continue to work at their main place of work in institutions that organize work in the artistic, environmental, naturalistic, scientific, technical, research and experimental, sports, military and patriotic fields with a workload of at least 0.75 full-time equivalent.
This means that even sports coaches, artists in studios, etc. can count on a deferral.
The draft law has now been sent to the committee for consideration, but given that it is a government bill, the likelihood of its quick adoption is as high as possible. So, soon the new rules of mobilization will meet the standards described in the article.
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Author: Alla Dunina
