Without the right to deferment from mobilization: Ukrainian graduate students’ contract-based full-time studies restricted

Postgraduate studies in Ukraine on a contract basis will only be possible in part-time and evening formats, which do not grant deferment from mobilization.

This is stated in the clarification by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine regarding the new rules for admission to postgraduate studies in 2024, which were adopted due to the “excessive excitement of men of conscription age wanting to enter postgraduate studies.”

It is also reported that transfers from other forms of study to full-time will not be available throughout 2024. Resumption of full-time studies will only be allowed for those not subject to military service.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians criticized the new rules for admission to postgraduate studies in the comments on the Facebook post of the Minister of Education of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi. Here are some of the comments:

Vitaliy Berehuta: “Once again, discrimination based on the form of payment, which postgraduate students fought against in the winter of 2024. How is a postgraduate applicant, who enters postgraduate studies on a contract basis at the age of 23, supposed to finish if at the age of 25 in the third year, he will be subject to mobilization? Is a state-funded applicant really more capable for postgraduate studies than a contract applicant? You want to focus on the actual performance indicators of the postgraduate student’s scientific activity. Why is the form of payment still the key indicator?”

Maksym Beshchasnyi: “This is another sign of the government’s circus and its unprofessionalism. The Minister of Education should probably resign. There has been no systematization in the field of education, decisions are made rashly, swinging in different directions. Minister, it would be better if you cancel yourself.”

Iryna Chorna: “There has never been such a mess under any Minister of Education. It’s June! Finally, stop this flow of painful fantasies.”

Anna Bondarchuk: “Why are you changing the admission rules when some people have already taken the exam? Do you have the right to change the law at your discretion?”

Alina Rusyniuk: “You should at least glance at the children forced to be abroad and studying in our universities online. They were deprived of the opportunity to take the session online, being required to either come in person or take an academic leave. Motivating for the youth, right?”

It should be recalled that postgraduate studies provide deferment from mobilization. Now admission and study have been significantly complicated to filter out those supposedly trying to avoid service. The main innovation was the introduction of a unified entrance exam for those wishing to enter master’s and postgraduate studies, consisting of two subjects: educational competence and a foreign language.

Also, applicants entering postgraduate studies will not be credited for their foreign language certificate.