Mathematics will not be removed from mandatory NMT subjects – Lisovyi
Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science is categorically opposed to removing mathematics as a mandatory subject from the National Multi-subject Test (NMT). The ministry believes the NMT should test graduates’ basic skills, including the ability to count.
Censor.NET reports this. Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi said this during a briefing for journalists in Kyiv.
The Ministry of Education and Science does not support the alternative bill
According to the minister, the government has already submitted a bill on the rules for the 2027 admission campaign, which preserves the current NMT model.
At the same time, the alternative bill proposes reducing the number of test subjects and making mathematics an optional subject. The Ministry of Education does not support this idea.
"We categorically do not support the alternative bill, which provides for somewhat different conditions regarding mathematics," Lisovyi stressed.
"This will not lead to positive changes"
The minister noted that the NMT is designed to test graduates’ key competencies: the ability to read, write and count.
He believes that removing mathematics or the history of Ukraine from the list of mandatory subjects is the wrong decision.
"Cancelling mathematics or history, removing them from mandatory NMT subjects, is absurd. This will not lead to any positive changes for us as a country," the head of the Ministry of Education and Science said.
Why the discussion arose
The discussion flared up after the start of the main NMT session, which began on 20 May and will last until 25 June. On social media, some test participants complained about the difficulty of this year’s tasks, particularly in mathematics.
Against this backdrop, as Censor.NET reported earlier, Yuliia Hryshyna, head of the subcommittee on higher education of the parliamentary committee, together with a group of MPs, registered alternative bill No. 15254-1, which provides for changes to the NMT format in 2027.
How the NMT is currently conducted
In 2026, applicants take four subjects: Ukrainian language, mathematics, history of Ukraine, and one subject of their choice.
The optional subjects include a foreign language, biology, geography, physics, chemistry, or Ukrainian literature.
