Agendas for 50,000 students: the Rada wants to cancel the deferment for those receiving a second higher education

People's deputies want to replenish the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with applicants for a second higher education. It is expected that tens of thousands of men will be sent to the front. The question arises as to how this will affect the combat effectiveness of the units, since motivated soldiers do not need to be forced onto the battlefield.

The Verkhovna Rada came up with a way to replenish the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - to cancel the deferment for mobilization for those receiving higher education for the second time. A member of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, Fyodor Venislavsky, is confident that in the conditions of a full-scale war it would be absolutely fair to limit oneself to higher education.

Receiving a third and fourth higher education cannot in any way be a reason for deferment, and if a person studies in a master’s program immediately after completing his studies, then this is obtaining a higher master’s education. If he entered graduate school immediately after training, then it’s understandable.

“And when a person has a break and only during the war suddenly wants to engage in scientific activity, this raises questions,” he believes.

In a comment to Focus, Venislavsky clarified that we are talking exclusively about male students who decided to get a second higher education, different from the first.

“If a student has a document confirming the qualification level of a bachelor's or master's degree and after that receives another bachelor's or master's degree. After the start of a full-scale war, a business began to enroll men aged 30 to 55 into universities. This is hardly the right way to defer conscription,” he added.

Tens of thousands of students will join the army?

Graduate students and applicants for scientific degrees will not be touched for now. The exact numbers of future mobilized students were not calculated. Venislavsky briefly indicated that we can talk about tens of thousands, perhaps 40-50 thousand people who will join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Legislators should take into account the issue of motivation of students who entered universities instead of serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, says Mykola Skiba, an expert in the “Education” direction of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future.

“It is worth analyzing the consequences and fighting capacity of the people before accepting such wishes of politicians as part of a mobilization plan. Will this affect the morale and combat effectiveness of the units? Secondary education is most often obtained far from student age. There are many cases when people do not hide behind their student status, but consciously study and change their activity profile,” the specialist comments to Focus.

Those who want to voluntarily go to the front have been there for a long time, but the rest cannot physically or are not psychologically ready, Skiba continues.

The expert is confident that the abolition of deferred mobilization for students will definitely worsen the quality of education in Ukraine.

Can legislation be changed to mobilize undergraduate and graduate students?

Lawyers interviewed by Focus are confident that legislation in Ukraine can be changed not in favor of university students and graduate students. Sooner or later, almost all categories of conscripts will receive summonses, says Katerina Anishchenko, lawyer at the law firm Riyako&Partners.

“There have been discussions for a long time about amending the Law of Ukraine “On Education” and in accordance with Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On Mobilization” regarding students and graduate students, the number of their education and their age. In the paragraph on granting a deferment to applicants for vocational (vocational), professional pre-higher and higher education, assistant trainees, graduate students and doctoral students studying in full-time or dual forms of education, a deferment with some features may be added,” notes the lawyer.

If undergraduate and graduate students are excluded from Article 23 of the Law “On Mobilization,” they will be subject to conscription on a general basis. A possible change to Article 23 of the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” is confirmed by the lawyer of the law firm “Ilyashev and Partners” Dmitry Lazebny.

“Then graduate and undergraduate students will be subject to mobilization on a general basis. In my opinion, if the corresponding changes are made, they will not compete with Art. 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which guarantees citizens of Ukraine the right to education,” he is confident.

Let us remind you that in Ukraine, conscripts, those liable for military service and reservists are officially hired only after registration with the military. Employers are required to check that men have military registration documents.

Captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Prozapas previously said that the same people cannot carry the war. The Ukrainian army needs a large number of people, so a normal mobilization plan is needed, he believes.