Mass checks in Ukraine: reservations under threat

Ukraine is experiencing an increase in the number of postgraduate students in higher education institutions, among whom there are many men of draft age. Deputy Minister of Education Mykhailo Vinnytskyi reported this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

He emphasized that the Ministry of Education and Science has identified many cases where postgraduate students are not engaged in their studies. Studies have shown that many of them do not attend lectures, fail to pass exams, do not have scientific publications, and are not involved in dissertation projects.

In this regard, the Ministry of Education and Science has launched unscheduled inspections to assess the quality of the educational process in universities. Special attention is paid to male postgraduate students over 25 years of age to prevent fictitious studies.

“Some of the scientific supervisors noted that they had not seen their wards for a long time. That is why we decided to check the implementation of individual curricula,” the official said.

At the same time, Vinnytskyi noted that there are also graduate students who are actively working on scientific projects, particularly in the fields of unmanned technologies, electronic warfare systems, and cybersecurity. In such cases, a deferral from service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine seems justified.

What is the increase in the number of graduate students of draft age?

Before the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine, between 1,300 and 1,500 students studied full-time postgraduate studies under a contract each year. However, after a year, this figure increased sharply to 13,700, with more than 82% of new participants being men of draft age.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science, in 2023, Ukrainian universities recorded a record number of applicants for postgraduate studies – nearly 18,800 people. Of this number, 13,600 are men aged 25 years or older on a full-time contract basis. It is expected that many of them used the training as a way to obtain a deferment from mobilization.