Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk discussed improvements to Ukraine’s national multi-subject test (NMT) system with Education and Science Minister Andriy Butenko, including holding two separate sessions and the possibility of introducing a winter NMT session.
"The focus was on preparing the government’s action program, the legislative support for its implementation in education and science, the implementation of laws already adopted, including Ukraine’s law on academic integrity, and further cooperation between the ministry and parliament. We discussed in detail the development of preschool, general secondary, extracurricular, vocational, professional pre-higher and higher education," Stefanchuk wrote following the meeting.
He said the discussion also covered the science sector, including the work of Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, as well as improving the methodology for state certification of research institutions and universities on their scientific and technical activities to ensure more objective evaluation.
The two officials also focused on preparing next year’s state budget in terms of financing education and science, revising pay for teachers and researchers, boosting support for young teachers, addressing staff shortages, reforming school nutrition, continuing the "New Ukrainian School" (NUS) and higher education reforms, and the need to develop and approve criteria for shaping the network of educational institutions.
Stefanchuk also discussed with the minister improvements to the national multi-subject test system, including holding two separate sessions, the possibility of a winter NMT session, and ensuring access to education for students from frontline areas.
As reported, lawmakers led by Education, Science and Innovation Committee Chairman Serhiy Babak have proposed that the Verkhovna Rada set the rules for the 2027 state final certification and admissions campaign.
In early June, amid public debate over the NMT, Yuliia Hryshyna, head of the higher education subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada’s education, science and innovation committee, registered an alternative bill (No. 15254-1) together with 50 lawmakers to reduce the number of NMT subjects in 2027 and make mathematics an elective rather than a mandatory subject.
Former Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi and former Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko opposed the lawmakers’ initiative.
On July 24, Education Minister Andriy Butenko discussed optimizing the NMT in light of current wartime realities with Tetiana Vakulenko, director of the Ukrainian Center for Education Quality Assessment (UCEQA).
