Political Underpinnings of NMТ Reforms: Why Testing Is Losing Its Objectivity
The Ukrainian education system is currently undergoing a profound transformation of the National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT), a process that increasingly sparks public debates and critical assessments.
Instead of serving as an objective tool for evaluating students’ knowledge and skills, the test is being turned into a political instrument manipulated to serve narrow societal and governmental interests.
It appears that the state is consciously and deliberately lowering the difficulty level and requirements of the exams to mask the actual quality of education and to avoid criticism from society.As Oksana Onyshchenko, editor of the education and science section at ZN.UA, notes in her article ‘ZNO as Hostage to Populism: How Political Decisions Shake the System,’ the modern NMT increasingly diverges from its original purpose — objectively measuring students’ knowledge across various subjects.
Recent trends include simplifying the test structure: open-ended questions that required reasoning and argumentation are disappearing, replaced mainly by multiple-choice questions where students just need to select the correct answer.
The passing scores are set low: only 15% of the maximum points are needed to pass.This simplification raises serious questions: is it truly about improving education quality? It turns out that more emphasis is placed on political convenience and superficial results.
The low passing threshold effectively allows students to pass with minimal effort, meaning that the actual assessment of their knowledge remains superficial.
This leads many graduates and their families to promote myths of “successful resistance” or “meeting targets,” obscuring the underlying issues of educational quality.According to Onyshchenko, genuine reform can only happen through sincere efforts by the Ministry of Education, involving professional teams, open public discussions, and policies willing to take unpopular but necessary decisions.
Currently, reducing test complexity and using it as a political tool serve only to sustain the status quo and avoid tackling systemic problems.
Substantive change demands higher standards, program updates, teacher training improvements, and in-depth research to identify underlying causes of low results.Furthermore, the low pass score – a classic example of political compromise – effectively releases the state from its regulatory responsibilities.
This approach allows lower-quality universities to continue accepting students regardless of their actual knowledge levels, thus undermining academic standards.
The government’s reluctance to enforce strict standards hampers the development of a truly competitive and high-quality higher education system.In conclusion, reforms must prioritize integrity and high standards.
Instead of superficial fixes and political manipulations, the focus should be on raising the difficulty level of tests, implementing fair assessments, and ensuring the real measurement of students’ competencies.
Only in this way can the Ukrainian education system serve as a foundation for national progress and increased global competitiveness.
Engaging qualified professionals and maintaining open dialogue about reform goals are essential steps toward meaningful improvements.