Taking 17-year-old son abroad out of fear of mobilization is irrational panic – Ministry of Education and Science
Ukraine has no plans to lower the age for military mobilization, making parental concerns about drafting 18-year-olds unfounded.
This was stated by Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vynnytskyi in an interview with Glavcom, as reported by Censor.NET.
"I remind everyone that the mobilization age in Ukraine is 25. There are no plans to lower it. So panicking with ideas like ‘I need to take my 17-year-old son abroad because he’ll be drafted’ is entirely irrational," he emphasized.
Commenting on social media claims that parents are taking high school students—especially boys—abroad out of fear of mobilization, the deputy minister responded:
"University admissions data tells a different story than what’s being spread online. Last year, 312,508 people registered for the national multi-subject test. This year, the number is 312,490. That’s only 18 fewer. Statistically, this isn’t a change at all. Of these 312,000, around 20,000 are taking the test abroad—compared to 21,000 last year. There’s no reason to take the NMT (National Multisubject Test) unless you intend to apply to a Ukrainian university."
