Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education supported keeping the current form of the national multidisciplinary test, but during parliamentary consideration MPs may remove mathematics from the list of mandatory subjects.
The Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Innovations at its meeting 28 October decided to recommend that the Verkhovna Rada preserve the current structure of the national multidisciplinary test for 2027 year. Despite this, the final exam model has not yet been approved, because an intense political struggle over canceling the mandatory mathematics test and generally reducing the number of subjects may unfold during consideration in the plenary hall, writes Oksana Onyshchenko in an article for ZN.UA “NMT-2027: mathematics left mandatory. For now. What to expect from parliament?”
At the moment active discussions are underway in parliamentary circles regarding three main models for administering the final testing:
The “3+1 subject” model (supported by the committee): envisions keeping the current order, where Ukrainian language, History of Ukraine, and mathematics remain mandatory, and the applicant chooses the fourth subject independently. The corresponding bill was submitted by the chair of the relevant committee, Serhiy Babak, together with colleagues.
The “2+1 subject” model: envisions canceling mandatory mathematics. Under this scheme only Ukrainian language and History of Ukraine remain mandatory, plus one elective subject. This initiative was put forward by Yuliya Hryshyna with other MPs as part of an alternative bill that has now been sent back for revision.
The “consensus” model: envisions reducing the entire exam structure to three mandatory subjects for all applicants (Ukrainian language, History of Ukraine, and mathematics) with no option to choose a fourth subject.
Observers emphasize that abandoning the mandatory mathematics test or moving to a variant with three fixed subjects would negatively affect both school education and the quality of higher education in Ukraine (schools traditionally orient teaching to the requirements of the final test and teach exactly what the exam demands).
The author stresses that if all high school seniors take the same set of three subjects, universities will effectively lose the ability to see applicants’ specialized knowledge. As a result, any specialty — from medical and engineering to philology — would admit a “universal applicant,” increasing the risk of selecting random people who later cannot become quality professionals.
The main risk for the applicants themselves remains the protraction of the lawmaking process. If consideration of the document in the Verkhovna Rada stretches to two readings, the final decision may be made next year, which would come as a surprise to seniors who have already begun preparing according to the current programs.
According to the chair of the education committee, Serhiy Babak, some MPs are trying to steer the process through the two-reading procedure in order to use amendments to remove mathematics from the list of mandatory subjects or change the overall test format.
It was previously reported that Ukrainian MPs want to change the format of the national multidisciplinary test for 2027 year. 50 parliamentarians (bill initiators: Yuliya Hryshyna, Oleksandr Merezhko, Valeriy Zub, Liubov Shpak, Vyacheslav Medynyk) registered draft law No. 15254-1, which proposes reducing the number of mandatory NMT subjects to three.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Математику залишать чи скасують? Чого очікувати абітурієнтам від нових моделей НМТ-2027". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
