Oleksandr Hahiev, a soldier of the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, believes he was enrolled in the National University of Water Management and Nature Use (NUWMP) without his consent.
This is reported by Rivne24
This decision could lead to the loss of his right to free distance higher education.
At the beginning of summer 2025, Oleksandr decided to pursue higher education remotely in the field of “Computer Engineering.” He submitted all necessary documents to the university, including his education certificate, passport, and taxpayer identification number, but did not submit an application for admission.
Shortly after this, the soldier received a call from the head of the “Military Education Support Center” at the university, who “ultimatumly stated” that Oleksandr would be enrolled in the specialty of “Historian,” which he had declined.
In a comment to “UP. Life,” the soldier noted that the university began assuring him that studying at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Cybernetics, Information Technologies, and Engineering would be difficult, as support for military personnel was not provided, whereas such support would be possible in the history department.
Later, the man received another call, during which a representative of the educational institution offered an alternative – studying in the specialty of “Builder.”
Oleksandr replied: “Are you out of your mind? I am not going to study either as a builder or a historian. Just leave those documents, don’t submit them anywhere. I refuse to enroll in your university; I will look for another one.”
On January 26, Oleksandr received a notification about the start of the session at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Construction, Architecture, and Design of NUWMP. He contacted the university to request an explanation of why he was enrolled without his consent, but the department stated that they “did not know how this happened.”
The soldier recounted that he was responded to in an aggressive tone, being told that it was his fault for not coming to collect the documents or writing a formal refusal.
Oleksandr also pointed out that the university might benefit from enrolling military personnel:
“They are actively seeking students among military personnel – text messages and brochures constantly arrive, including in my unit. They ask to inform soldiers that they have the opportunity to obtain education for free. I think they have some plan, the failure to fulfill which results in losing bonuses, so they enrolled me without my knowledge.”
Later, it became clear that representatives of NUWMP were prohibited from communicating with Oleksandr, so he had to spend a long time trying to contact the educational institution. When contact was finally established, the administration acknowledged the mistake and offered to transfer him to the desired specialty or to write a request for expulsion.
However, according to Oleksandr, in that case, he risks losing his right to free education.
“They said they wouldn’t be able to correct the data in the Unified State Electronic Database on Education (USEDE) without submitting a request for correction. But they don’t do this because someone has to take responsibility. Thus, they are trying to get around it and want me to write a request for expulsion,” Oleksandr explained.
“They did not apologize. There is absolutely no desire to study there after they showed that they behave inadequately towards soldiers who protect them from enemies. I think that even if I agreed to transfer, they would do everything possible to expel me in the next session,” he concluded.
After the publicity and the publication of the article, representatives of the educational institution contacted Oleksandr and offered to remove his data from USEDE without a request for expulsion, to which he agreed.