Record numbers: men apply to universities en masse
3 June 2024 14:11
The Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry has reported a record number of people registered for admission to master’s and postgraduate programmes. This happened because this year a large number of men agreed to get master’s degrees, said Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Mykhailo Vinnitsky on the air of the national telethon, reports the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to him, about 280 thousand people have registered to take the unified examination for admission to these educational programmes. Most of them are middle-aged men.
“There is a certain inflow. In addition, we have a situation where the entrance exams for master’s and postgraduate programmes are single, unified, for which this year a record number of people have registered. Predominantly 110-120 thousand people are registered for this exam, and this year it has already exceeded 200 thousand with a huge number of older men, who obviously have their own reasons to register,” the official explained on the air of the telethon.
Vinnitsky added that this year’s entrance exams will be difficult. The specialised ministry will conduct a strict selection system to ensure a high level of education in the country.
It should be noted that the Law on Mobilisation, which came into force on 18 May, took into account the proposal of the Education Committee on the right to postgraduate students to defer mobilisation.
It stipulates that the following categories of applicants and education workers are not subject to military service upon mobilisation, for a special period:
- aspirants of vocational (vocational-technical), vocational pre-university and higher education, who study on a full-time or dual form and obtain a level of education that is higher than the level previously obtained;
- scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers of institutions of higher and vocational pre-university education, scientific institutions and organisations, who have a scientific degree, and pedagogical workers of institutions of vocational pre-university education, vocational education, institutions of general secondary education, provided that they work in the relevant institutions at the main place of work for at least 0.75 rate.
At the same time, the law excludes the possibility of evading conscription during mobilisation by enrolling in an educational institution to obtain a second or third higher education (bachelor’s or master’s degree) or even lower education.
