A scandal is brewing in Odesa regarding the conduct of the National Multisubject Testing (NMT). Due to prolonged air raids, applicants were forced to take the exam in a shelter for nearly 13 hours straight. The situation, described by participants as critical, has led the Verkhovna Rada to launch an investigation.

A test of endurance: 13 hours in the basement

According to data from the Odesa regional office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the testing procedure was delayed from 09:00 to 22:00. The facility chosen for the exam turned out to be completely unprepared for wartime conditions.

Applicants were in a state of stress, deprived of basic living conditions. As human rights defenders note, children were not provided with access to water or food throughout the day. Contact with parents was significantly limited: only a few children, whose health deteriorated sharply, were allowed to call home.

Who was left without support

Particular concern is raised by the conditions in which orphans found themselves. During the hours-long marathon, they were left without any support from the organizers. Assistance in the form of water and food could only be provided by caring teachers and parents of other participants who happened to be nearby.

Exam participants report that due to the long wait in the shelter and constant stress, they were in a state of critical exhaustion. The loss of concentration made it impossible to perform tasks effectively, especially in the final blocks of the test. This calls into question the objectivity of the results and the observance of the principle of equal opportunities for all applicants.

Government reaction: from system failure to a summons to parliament

The ombudsman's office called the organization of testing in Odesa an "unacceptable system failure" requiring an immediate response from the Ministry of Education and Science. On June 9, Yulia Gryshyna, head of the subcommittee on higher education, announced that the Verkhovna Rada voted to summon the head of the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA), Tatyana Vakulenko, for an explanation.

"I believe the minister should also be summoned, as there are many questions. Why are they submitting a bill on the admission campaign again with a count of 4 subjects, and why, in the 5th year of full-scale war, children do not have the opportunity to take the test in safe conditions," Gryshyna stated.

What to do for affected applicants

Participants affected by the force majeure were offered to take the NMT during an additional session. However, specific dates are not yet available, and no one guarantees that the situation will not repeat itself.

According to the regulations, air raids lasting more than 2.5 hours give participants of the main session the right to apply for participation in an additional session. UCEQA Director Tatyana Vakulenko previously explained the procedure:

  • If a participant was unable to complete the work due to force majeure, they must submit an application to the regional center for educational quality assessment within three working days.
  • The decision on admission is made by the regulatory commission based on records in the VEC documents.
  • A participant is admitted to additional sessions only on the condition that the petition to annul their main session result is satisfied.

Future plans

According to Vakulenko, in 2026, the NMT in territories located near zones of active hostilities will be conducted mainly in shelters. Last year, in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, 100% of exam centers operated in shelters. At the same time, where power plants operated in civil defense shelters, testing was not interrupted: even in the event of an alarm, participants continued working on the tests.