Another spring conscription aggravation

On March 18, 2004, the Ministry of Education issued an official statement "Studying at a university will no longer be a refuge from the army." It sets out the main theses of the speech of the former Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov, who has not yet received a new appointment, at a working meeting of rectors of commercial universities on March 17: “ All school graduates will be required to undergo initial military training before entering one or another educational institution. Tentatively, the course of a young soldier will last six months. After that, the young man will have to choose: either he will go to serve in the army under a contract, or he will spend another six months in the troops . " At the same time, it was announced that "the issue of granting contract servicemen who have served in parts from 3 to 5 years, the right to out-of-competition enrollment in a university" is being considered .

Novye Izvestia reported that the ministry refused to comment on the ex-minister's statement. On the other hand, Nikolai Bezborodov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, said that on March 25 the parliament would consider a package of amendments to the Russian law "On universal military duty", designed to reduce the list of benefits that provide a deferment from the army, but expressed surprise at V. Filippov's statements. N. Bezborodov said that if such a statement was made, then it is unconstitutional.

A few hours later, the Ministry of Education issued a new version of the press release, in which it was additionally reported that Filippov had stated that "any changes regarding the deferment of military service for school graduates and students of vocational schools are possible only with a real military reform.. ."

On March 23, 2004, Novye Izvestiya reported on officials' reaction to Mr. Filippov's statement. On March 22, Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrey Fursenko stated: "The announced plans are not the official position of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, but at the same time, this proposal can be considered as one of the possible options for the next stages of educational reform. "

Sources

• Zverev Anton. In the army - from the age of 16? The Ministry of Education is ready to send teenagers to the barracks right from school // New news. 2004. March 19.
• Perov Sergey. Not a warrior in the field while alone // There. 2004. March 24.