Why 17-year-old girls and boys are leaving Ukraine? Education ombudsman reveals
Photo: 17-year-old girls and boys are leaving Ukraine (Getty Images)
It’s not only 17-year-old boys - whose parents fear conscription - who are leaving Ukraine, but girls as well. However, there is no comprehensive data on this, explains Education Ombudsman Nadiia Leshchyk in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
"I don’t have statistics, so I can't say whether this is a widespread problem. But we periodically discuss this with education administrators at the regional and community levels: the number of students starting in grades 10–11 is very different from the number who finish," she said.
According to her, students are not officially withdrawn from Ukrainian schools but instead switch to distance learning. Therefore, there may be statistics, but they don’t reflect the real situation.
According to official data, 312,490 people registered for the National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) this year, which is 18% less than last year. "20,071 students are taking the test abroad. Most countries where our youth are going do not require the NMT," Leshchyk said.
In her opinion, it is usually the parents who decide to leave with their child. "I’ve spoken to parents who made such decisions, and they pointed to the uncertainty around statements regarding conscription from the age of 18," the ombudsman reported.
But it’s not only 17-year-old boys who are going abroad - girls are leaving too, Leshchyk noted. "The rising cost of contract-based education in higher education institutions is also contributing to this trend," she added.
Refugee forecasts
Most refugees left Ukraine after the war began in 2022. However, the outflow continues even now. According to the UN Refugee Agency, 100,000 people have left Ukraine since the beginning of 2025.
According to the European Commission, the number of temporary protection recipients in the EU stood at around 4.3 million in January 2025. It is expected that this number will remain stable throughout 2025, then decrease to 4.1 million by the end of 2025, and to 3.8 million by the end of 2026.
