Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the issue of educational accessibility and the fairness of the admissions campaign remains one of the most pressing. The Ministry of Education and Science of the country has stated its position: there are no plans to simplify the National Multisubject Test (NMT). As Minister Oksen Lisovyi stated, current statistics show that the exam is accessible to the overwhelming majority of applicants.
Statistics vs. Myths About Difficulty
In a comment to journalists, Oksen Lisovyi dispelled rumors that the requirements for applicants are inflated. According to the minister, the percentage of schoolchildren who failed to score the minimum passing grade is extremely low. This serves as direct proof that the test is compiled correctly and can realistically be passed with basic knowledge.
«The National Multisubject Test is the same for all participants in the admissions campaign», — emphasized the head of the department. Despite the objective difficulties that schoolchildren face under combat conditions, the ministry sees no grounds for lowering the bar of requirements. Checking fundamental knowledge remains a mandatory condition for obtaining higher education.
Disputes Over Mathematics and Exam Structure
Lately, public discussion of the NMT rules has become particularly active. An alternative bill proposing to change the structure of the exam by 2027 has even been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The initiators of the changes propose reducing the number of mandatory subjects from four to three, excluding mathematics from the list.
The argument in favor of such changes is the excessive burden on children, who are forced to take all subjects in one day under difficult conditions. However, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko has already put a period to this issue. She noted that mathematics will remain a mandatory subject in the NMT, and changing the testing structure in the coming years is not planned.
Sviridenko argued her decision by stating that simplifying the exam would harm not only the graduates themselves but also the future restoration of the country, which requires qualified specialists.
Alternative Paths to Education
For those applicants who, for various reasons, will not be able to score passing grades on the NMT, legal educational trajectories remain in Ukraine. The education system provides opportunities for admission without a single centralized test.
Already this year, one can enter military universities or colleges. In such educational institutions, admission is conducted based on internal trials, interviews, or motivation letters, which allows talented youth to obtain a profession, bypassing the standard NMT barriers.