Verkhovna Rada is preparing bill to cancel deferrals for students aged 25+, - committee chairman Babak
The Verkhovna Rada is working on amendments to mobilisation legislation that could deprive men aged 25 and over who have enrolled in higher, pre-higher or vocational education institutions of their right to deferment.
This was announced by Serhii Babak, MP and head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, during a telethon, according to Censor.NET, citing TSN.
Legislative changes
Currently, the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Security, Defence and Intelligence is considering a bill that, of course, cannot restrict the right to education, but can restrict the right to deferment. One of these bills is ready for its second reading and states that men aged 25+ who enrol in higher education institutions, pre-higher professional or vocational educational institutions, will not be entitled to deferment. This is quite radical, but it needs to be done if we are talking about the security of our country," he said.
The MP noted that by 2022, an average of about 30,000 men over the age of 25 were enrolled in higher and pre-higher vocational education in Ukraine. As of 1 September 2025, there were already 8.5 times more of them - about 250,000 people.
What preceded this?
- Earlier, it was reported that the number of men aged 25+ among applicants had halved, according to new statistics from the Ministry of Education and Science.
- The head of the State Service for Quality Education, Ruslan Gurak, previously announced that Ukraine plans to inspect about 50 colleges and universities with the largest number of students aged 25 and older. The inspections will continue until the end of the year and will continue at the beginning of the next academic season.
