High school students are leaving Ukraine: different positions of Ombudsman Leshchyk and Deputy Minister of Education and Science Vynnytskyi
The war, which has been going on in Ukraine for the fourth year, has caused not only the mass evacuation of women and children, but also deeper shifts in the structure of education and demography. Against the backdrop of the militarization of state policy and discussions of mobilization resources, more and more Ukrainian families are making decisions about their children’s departure abroad even before they reach adulthood. It is not only about boys who turn 17, but also about girls whose families see more stable educational prospects for them in European countries. At the same time, educational ombudsman Nadiya Leschyk and Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vynnytskyi express completely different opinions about these processes. One representative of the system records the departure, the other emphasizes the return. This difference in the focus of views only emphasizes the complexity and multi-layered nature of the issue of migration of Ukrainian teenagers during the war.
The phenomenon of “quiet exit”: what the educational ombudsman records
Educational ombudsman Nadiya Leshchyk directly admitted: in Ukraine, there is a tendency for 10-11 grade students to go abroad. According to her, it is difficult to determine the exact number of children who leave the territory of Ukraine at high school age, since they are not formally counted from schools. It is mainly about the transition to a distance form of education, thanks to which the teenager remains in the school statistics, but is physically in another country.
Leshchyk noted that this problem cannot yet be called massive in a strict statistical sense, however, educational managers at the level of regions and communities constantly record changes in the number of students: at the beginning of the school year, there may be one number in the class, and by the time of graduation, it may be completely different. And this is not always connected with transfer to institutions of professional technical education or diseases.
The ombudsman also reported that the decision on the departure of children is most often made by the parents themselves. According to her observations, this applies not only to boys, whose parents seek to protect them in advance from possible mobilization after reaching the age of 18. Girls are also leaving more and more often. The reason may be an increase in the cost of contract education at Ukrainian universities or a focus on EU educational programs that are open to graduates of Ukrainian schools.
Data on the number of people registered for the National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) in 2025 indicate a moderate decrease in the total number of participants. A total of 312,490 people were registered, which is 18% less than in 2024. Of these, 20,071 people will take the test abroad. The educational ombudsman emphasized that most of the countries where Ukrainian teenagers are located do not require the completion of the NMT for admission to local universities, therefore, the motivation to take the test remains only for those who plan either to return to Ukraine or a hybrid educational route.
This part of the statistics does not give an unequivocal answer: will the child return to Ukraine after finishing school, or will he use NMT as a backup option. However, this uncertainty, according to Leshchyk, is a characteristic feature of the migration of high school students.
Opposite dynamics: what the deputy minister of education and science declares
Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vynnytskyi voiced the position that part of Ukrainian youth who went abroad at the age of 16-17 returns to Ukraine at the age of 18-19. According to him, the State Border Service of Ukraine records a stable number of teenagers who cross the border at high school age, but instead also provides statistics on the return flow.
Vynnytskyi emphasized that one of the reasons for the return is a conscious choice in favor of Ukrainian higher education. According to his data, the number of registrations for NMT from abroad in 2025 remained approximately at the same level as in 2024 — more than 20,000. This, in his opinion, shows that Ukrainian youth have a basis for comparing educational systems and often choose Ukraine, despite their stay in another country.
The official also recalled his own experience: he was born in Canada, educated in Canada and Great Britain, defended his doctorate in Cambridge, but has been living and working in Ukraine for more than two decades. In his view, self-realization is a stronger motivation than stability, and that is why many young Ukrainians prefer to return.
Two realities in one country: how to explain conflicting statistics
The positions of Nadiya Leshchyk and Mykhailo Vynnytskyi do not contradict each other in a formal sense, but they reflect two different sections of the same process. The ombudsman records departures in real time — through monitoring of school dynamics, appeals by parents and indirect consequences. Vynnytskyi appeals to the figures, which testify to the continued interest in Ukrainian education on the part of those who are already abroad.
However, the problem is that these data do not connect in the time plane. Departure and return are different stages, and not everyone who left at 17 returns at 18. Also, registration at the NMT is not a legal confirmation of return. Young people can pass the test, but stay to study abroad or use the NMT certificate as part of dual entry.
It should also not be forgotten that both sources of statistics – both educational and border – do not have exact control over where exactly the child is physically, if he remains formally attached to the Ukrainian educational process in a remote form.
A comparison of the positions of the two officials allows us to draw several conclusions. Firstly, the mobility of Ukrainian high school students is increasing — not only forced, but also pragmatic, related to economic considerations, admission, plans for higher education. Secondly, the education system in Ukraine faces a new type of challenge — “invisible migration”, when formal indicators do not reflect the real state of affairs. And thirdly, the return of a part of the youth after a year or two of staying abroad does not necessarily indicate a change in the trend, but rather demonstrates the multidirectional nature of the processes.
Adolescent migration is an indicator of how families adapt to the duration of the conflict, the cost of education, mobilization risks, and prospects for self-realization. Attempts to consider this dynamic only in a positive or negative way do not give an objective picture. In the coming years, the state should focus on creating conditions for transparent statistics, supporting the return and adaptation of students who choose Ukraine.
