Lubinets called for a review of the NMT rules due to the war: details

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, has appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Education and Science to review the rules for conducting the national multi-subject test. In his opinion, the system should take into account the realities of the war in which Ukrainian graduates are taking exams this year.

Lubinets reported this on Telegram.

The Ombudsman noted that air raid warnings, long hours spent in shelters, technical failures, and the lack of an opportunity to appeal incorrect test tasks put NMT participants in unequal conditions.

According to him, in June alone, he received 21 complaints about problems during testing, but the actual number of such cases may be much higher.

In his appeal to the government and the Ministry of Education and Science, Lubinets proposed several changes at once. In particular, he asks to take into account the difficult conditions of holding the NMT in 2026 and to consider the possibility of lowering the minimum passing score for competitive selection from 150 to 130. According to him, this initiative is also supported by the Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine.

In addition, the Ombudsman called for the restoration of the right to appeal against incorrect test tasks and for the publication of the tests themselves and the correct answers after the testing is completed.

He specifically drew attention to children in places of detention. Lubinets emphasized that they also have the right to education, so the state must provide them with the opportunity to pass the NMT. According to him, violations of the rights of six children in pre-trial detention centers have been recorded so far, although there are 152 such minors in the country in total.

As an example of problems with the NMT, the Ombudsman cited the situation in Odessa, where due to air raids, test participants spent more than 13 hours in the examination center . He also mentioned a graduate from Vinnytsia Oblast who was unable to pass the test due to a technical failure, but after the Ombudsman’s intervention she was allowed to take an additional session.

Lubinets emphasized that the right to education should not depend on air raids, technical malfunctions, or organizational shortcomings, and the system for conducting NMT should be adapted to wartime conditions.