The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi stated that he does not support the proposal to make mathematics an optional subject of the national multi-subject test (NMT) from 2027. Such a bill was recently registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
Lisovyi said this during a conversation with journalists, Interfax-Ukraine quotes him as saying.
According to the minister, the abolition of mathematics or history as mandatory subjects in exams for school graduates is "an absurdity that will not lead the country to any positive changes".
"NMT is precisely to confirm the key ability to read, write, and count, and mathematics should be a mandatory subject," Lisovyi emphasized.
Therefore, the Ministry of Education categorically does not support the alternative bill that deputies submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on June 2, Lisovyi added. Draft law No. 15254-1 was registered by the head of the subcommittee on higher education of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine committee on education, science and innovation Yulia Hryshyna together with 50 MPs.
They propose to reduce the number of mandatory subjects in the NMT in 2027, leaving only the Ukrainian language and history of Ukraine. Instead, test participants will be able to choose mathematics as an additional subject.
Mathematics will remain mandatory only for specialties where it is a core subject, in particular for technical and engineering fields.
The MP Hryshyna explained that such changes should reduce the psychological burden on schoolchildren during the war. According to her, the parliamentarians are proposing a solution "similar to what worked successfully before the war and showed good results".
Why is the draft law being criticized?
A number of MPs, educators, scientists and public figures spoke out against the initiative to abolish mathematics as a compulsory subject at secondary schools. In particular, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation Roman Hryshchuk recalled that mathematics is the only compulsory subject at secondary schools from the natural sciences and mathematics cycle. In his opinion, it is important for the development of critical and logical thinking, which is needed by both technical specialists and humanities students.
The president of the Kyiv Aviation Institute Ksenia Semenova stressed that Ukraine is already experiencing an acute shortage of engineers, especially in the defense sector. According to her, after physics and chemistry ceased to be important for admission, schoolchildrenʼs interest in these subjects fell sharply.
"Physics, chemistry and mathematics at school are our defense industry," Semenova added.
And a senior researcher at the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and a military officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Anton Senenko emphasized that modern warfare is primarily a war of technology, where success depends on knowledge in the field of mathematics, physics, and engineering.
- The main session of this yearʼs NMT will take place from May 20 to June 25, and the additional session will take place from July 17 to 24. The testing will include three mandatory subjects — Ukrainian language, mathematics, and history of Ukraine, and one more subject to choose from.
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