The results of the 2023 admission campaign indicate that higher education institutions in Ukraine continue to be used en masse to prevent mobilization.
In the last two years, the number of men receiving higher education after the age of 30 has increased significantly in Ukraine. Perhaps this was due to attempts to avoid the mobilization of the army. NGL.media journalists came to this conclusion after analyzing data from open sources.
“If last year, according to NGL.media estimates, about 85 thousand men of military age took advantage of the opportunity to receive a legal postponement from mobilization, then this year we are talking about in 110 thousand,” the publication said.
In general, according to the results of the publication’s analysis, men in the first years of paid education in 2023 will increase to 70%. Their average age has increased to 27 years. The most noticeable increase in the number of male students can be seen in the 30+ and 40+ age categories.
The average cost of a year of study in Ukrainian institutions of higher education (HE) has increased to 23.7 thousand hryvnia. But the conditions for entering into a contract remained simplified – for some specialties a simple interview or letter of motivation is enough.
“Based on the average cost of education and the number of applicants, this year Ukrainian higher education institutions received more than 2.6 billion hryvnias only from men who are not of student age. Last year, such additional income was reached 1.7 billion hryvnia,” the publication said.
The publication created, based on statistics from the Ministry of Education and Science, a detailed comparative database of all Ukrainian educational institutions. The leader among them is the Kharkov Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport: there, the number of male contract students in the first year of study, compared to pre-war 2021, has increased 20 times.
In the pre-war years, the most famous universities used no more than 20% of their quota for fee-paying students. Therefore, a sharp increase in contract workers in 2022-2023. In general, it fits the criteria laid out more than 15 years ago, the publication notes.
As an analysis by NGL.media shows, in total this year, 71 thousand men over 30 years of age entered the Western Military District for paid full-time education, including almost 23,000 of them went at a lower or the same level of education they already have.
We would like to remind you that earlier a bill was introduced in the Verkhovna Rada to remove the deferment from mobilization for those receiving secondary higher education after reaching the age of 30. Four bills have already been registered in the parliament which should combat the problem, but each limits the rights of potential students.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.