From the call to the audience – Newspaper Kommersant No. 198 (7399) of 10/25/2022

Applicants who have served their military service will be able to receive additional points when entering a university or college – such a bill was introduced on Monday by deputies and senators from United Russia. In their opinion, the initiative will increase the prestige of military service, strengthen patriotic education and form young people’s “readiness to defend the Motherland.” However, experts interviewed by Kommersant doubt that in the proposed version the benefit will increase the number of those wishing to serve in the army. They note that a few extra points will not help you enter a university – and even more so successfully graduate from it. The creation of preparatory departments for former conscripts at universities would be of real benefit, Kommersant’s interlocutors are sure.

On Monday, October 24, a group of deputies and senators from EP submitted to the State Duma a draft amendment to the law “On Education”. They propose to add military service on the list of individual achievements. Recall that now, when entering universities and colleges, applicants can receive additional points for their individual achievements – a maximum of 10. They are added to the points obtained in the exams, which can greatly increase the chances of admission. Now the list mentions, in particular, the passing of TRP standards, participation in volunteer activities and school competitions, prizes in sports competitions, as well as the presence of a school certificate with honors. Universities and colleges establish the specific procedure for taking into account individual achievements independently in their admission rules.

The explanatory note states that this measure “will contribute to strengthening the patriotic education of students, the formation of readiness to defend the Motherland, as well as increasing the prestige of military service.” Also, the authors of the bill believe that the initiative will encourage young people who have served in the army to get an education.

It should be noted that young people who served on conscription still have some benefits. So, a former conscript receives an advantage in enrollment compared to a regular applicant who has scored the same number of points.

And if during the military service a young man was injured, resulting in disability, then he has the right to enter a special quota.

Irina Abankina, director of the Institute for Education Development at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, supports the initiative, but notes that a few extra points will not greatly affect the situation: “If a young man joined the army because he received 30 USE points in the exam, and not 70, then where did he come from after the army will take more points for admission? In her opinion, for real support, it is necessary “not just to score points”, but to build a system of additional training at the expense of budget funds. Then the former conscripts will be able to prepare and pass the necessary exams, as well as more consciously approach the choice of their future profession. Ms. Abankina recalled that a similar system worked in the USSR – and after a two-year military service, young people entered the preparatory department at the university: “The final exams at this department were counted as entrance exams, and places in universities were reserved for such guys in advance.”

Associate Professor of the Department of Political and Public Communications of the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA Nikolai Kulbaka believes that the deputy initiative will not be in great demand. In his opinion, the deputies are trying to solve the urgent problem of the shortage of military personnel with long-term methods and a “symbolic gesture”: “If you want to encourage people to do something well, then higher wages will help, in particular. But no one will allow the deputies to do this, so they are trying to solve the problem with measures that will not require additional funds. And now there are fewer people who want to go even to military service, because the risks of their participation in hostilities increase.”

Anna Vasilyeva