President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this during the Ukrainian Youth Forum, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"This year, as in previous years, there were many problems with taking the NMT. This included the many-hour NMT session in Odesa, which we remember, as well as the burden caused by the intensity of the exam (…). The current NMT format, unfortunately, adds stress for children and parents. This needs to be fixed. We have already discussed this with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, and the team at the Presidential Office. Different conditions for taking the NMT need to be provided for next year," Zelensky said.

Read also:Zelensky announces new contacts with mediators to secure air defense packages

He identified the first necessary change as requiring students to take the NMT in shelters, "so that the process does not depend on when the Russians launch a MiG [fighter jet] or when other security threats arise."

He identified the intensity of the test and the lack of an opportunity to retake it as the second problem.

"We need to consider how to reduce the intensity of the NMT in order to ease the psychological burden on children, and we need to consider the timing so that children have an opportunity to take the NMT (…) a second time within a reasonable timeframe if they were unsuccessful the first time. And a reasonable timeframe means one that allows them to do so before the university admission campaign," the President said.

He stressed that the Ministry of Education must now develop the necessary changes together with local communities, schools, and universities.

"I ask you to work this out as thoroughly as possible and with the utmost respect for children, parents, schools, and universities. People should not be dependent on poor organization of the NMT process or security factors. We cannot simply say that these are the challenges of war; we must solve the problems," Zelensky noted.

As reported, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets criticized the organization of the NMT in Odesa, where students at one testing center took the exam for 13 hours due to repeated air-raid alerts. He also appealed to the government and the Ministry of Education with a proposal to reconsider the approach to conducting the NMT, including considering a reduction of the minimum competitive admission score from 150 to 130.