Postgraduate students declare illegality of introduction of additional credits by Ministry of Education, to challenge them in court

The introduction of new credits in Ukrainian and foreign languages ​​for postgraduate students by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine violates their rights and will be challenged in court, says Roman Serhiyenko, a postgraduate student and head of the charitable organization Charity Fund Let's Change Our Lives.

"Postgraduate students have been working to protect their legal and constitutional rights for more than a year. Why is that? Because last year, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine introduced an initiative aimed at introducing additional control measures for postgraduate students who are already studying. This initiative threatens Ukrainian science and aims to violate the legislation and constitutional rights of Ukrainian citizens, including of scientists in a part that cannot be restricted during a legal regime of martial law," Serhiyenko said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

According to him, this is the third attempt by postgraduate students to protect their rights, the first two were rejected. "What is the essence of the problem? The fact that this single state credit, which the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine wants to introduce for postgraduate students who have completed their second year of studies... in Ukrainian and foreign languages, although this type of control is not provided for by either the curricula or any document," the postgraduate student noted.

Serhiyenko notes that the introduction of an additional control measure in this form violates the constitutional rights and legal rights of postgraduate students, the laws of Ukraine on education, on higher education. Also, the possibility of introducing control in the form of a single state credit in Ukrainian and foreign languages ​​is not provided for by the National Qualifications Framework, since it is only a description that does not provide for the introduction of additional control measures.

"Therefore, this year we were forced to file a lawsuit with the court to cancel the resolution adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in order to protect the rights of postgraduate students," he said.

Rostyslav Kravets, a lawyer and senior partner of the Kravets & Partners law firm, stated about the "systemic activities of the Ministry of Education to destroy science and education in Ukraine."

"Today, we have a very strange situation with the Ministry of Education and Science, where the minister himself states that education is used for the sole purpose, as I understand it, not to obtain any knowledge, achievements, the development of science, the progress of Ukraine, but exclusively for the purpose of evading military service. At the same time, this is done quite boldly, openly," Kravets said during a press conference.

Since these initiatives of the Ministry of Education are actually not designed for the development of science in Ukraine and entail a violation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, it was decided to challenge these actions in court and ask the court to declare Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 08.04.2025 No. 426 illegal and invalid in terms of those changes that are aimed at violating the rights and freedoms of postgraduate students, it was noted during the press conference.

A collection of signatures among MPs was also organized in parliament under a collective appeal to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.