From April to August 2024, 23,448 men over the age of 30 were expelled from higher education institutions in Ukraine.
This information was shared by Deputy Minister of Education Mykhailo Vinnytsky in a Facebook post.
A loophole for conscripts: how the possibility of deferment increases the demand for postgraduate studiesThe deferment from mobilization available to postgraduate students has led to a heightened interest in obtaining academic degrees among men, particularly noticeable among contract soldiers. More details can be found in the infographic.He noted that as a result of inspections by the State Service for Quality of Education, 5,805 students were expelled, while the remaining expulsions were based on the internal quality assurance systems of the universities themselves.
“It is evident that those expelled were not genuine ‘students’ but individuals who intended to use this status to evade other responsibilities. Their absence from the higher education system is a sign that the system is self-purifying,” Vinnytsky stated.
The official added that the National Police has opened eight criminal proceedings against officials of higher education institutions. The total number of such cases is even higher.
Additionally, the Ministry of Education has revoked the licenses of a “number of” higher education institutions.
“The geography of these cases is very broad: from Zaporizhzhia to Uzhhorod, from Mykolaiv to Lviv. We continue to fight against unscrupulous operators who discredit higher education with their fake ‘institutions,’ which in 2023-2024 mass-enrolled men of conscription age (especially those over 30 and often in violation of licensing quotas), publicly advertising their prices for such services,” the official declared, adding that the Ministry of Education will not tolerate this.
As a reminder, this year the Ministry of Education changed the admission rules for postgraduate studies to combat draft evaders.
Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Education Oksen Lisovyi stated that around 200,000 men of conscription age are enrolling in universities for fictitious study programs.