Ombudsman Lubinets: Ukraine’s education system “lags behind reality” and the state is beginning to lose children

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has stated that Ukraine “is beginning to lose children” due to systemic problems in education.

He reached this conclusion following a meeting with Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.

According to Lubinets, schools are not preparing graduates for the national multi-subject test (NMT), forcing parents to hire tutors. Minister Lisovyi, according to the ombudsman, acknowledged this fact: the education system does not meet the level of knowledge required of graduates.

Lubinets sees a separate problem in the situation of applicants from occupied territories. Their numbers are declining because young people are not receiving sufficient information about opportunities to enroll in Ukrainian universities. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science still does not keep separate records for this category of applicants.

“Young people are losing their connection with Ukraine, and the state is losing time. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Science still has no separate record of this category of applicants. Without basic data, state policy is effectively being made blind,” the ombudsman’s post reads.

Lubinets also pointed out that education is effectively inaccessible in frontline, liberated, and mountain communities — due to school closures, lack of transport, and poor roads. Against this backdrop, he spoke out sharply against launching the senior school reform under current conditions.

“Launching a reform that will effectively lead to school closures, without a prepared system, in wartime conditions — this is simply mockery of Ukrainian children and education!” Lubinets declared.

Rector of V. Karazin Kharkiv National University Tetyana Kahanovska believes that the decline in the number of applicants will lead to the closure or merger of some universities. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Nadiia Kuzmycheva predicted that from 2029 onward, the number of people entering higher education institutions in Ukraine will drop sharply.