Fight against “evasion” or a blow to education? Education expert criticises ban on contract postgraduate studies
25 June 2024 11:51
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, has issued a special order prohibiting postgraduate studies on a contract basis. He made the decision amid a record increase in the number of men applying for postgraduate studies, describing the trend as “evasion”.
Nikita Andreev, a member of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, sharply criticised the decision in an exclusive commentary to Komersant ukrainskyi
.
“This is a shameful decision, ill-conceived and irrational. It was made spontaneously. If such a decision was to be made, it should have been done in the winter, when the terms of admission were being approved. Now is the height of the admission campaign, so people who have applied expected the state to be honest, that the state itself would follow the procedures it had approved earlier,”
– the expert commented.
Andreev also drew attention to the technical shortcomings of the order. According to him, it is written in such a way that contractual postgraduate studies are prohibited not only for men but also for women. The expert also highlighted other legal problems with this decision:
“These changes to the admission conditions are a regulatory act, that is, an act that is adopted and affects business entities, including private higher education institutions. According to the law, regulatory acts are subject, firstly, to public discussion, which did not take place, and secondly, to review and verification by the State Regulatory Service, which also did not take place. Therefore, this act is unlawful. I expect it to be challenged or even stopped in court,” he said,
– he emphasises.
Andreev also suggested an alternative solution. according to him, the “problem of evaders” can be solved by setting a threshold score on the tests. In this way, only the most capable will be able to study at postgraduate level, even if they are “evaders”.
Now, the expert is convinced, bribes for admission to government contracts will increase.
As for the possibility of appealing this decision, Andreev said:
“Of course, it can be appealed. In fact, anyone who applied for postgraduate studies has the right to go to court to protect their violated rights.”
