College Graduating Students to Receive One Deferment Until They Turn 20

The National Assembly has adopted in the second reading and in full the draft law on making amendments to the Law on "Military Service and Status of Military Personnel," as reported by the Public Relations and Information Department of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the new regulation, citizens who are studying in their final year of a vocational education program and are subject to mandatory military service will receive a deferment once, until the end of their studies, but no later than the day they turn 20, based on a government decision.

The law will come into force the day after its official publication. The purpose of this extension is to provide students who have not completed their vocational education program based on basic education the opportunity to finish their educational program, obtain the appropriate qualification, and only then be called up for mandatory military service.

It is worth noting that under the existing law, deferments are provided to students in vocational and secondary professional education institutions until the age of 19. The necessity for such a regulation arose from the fact that there are specializations in vocational education programs based on basic education that require a study duration of four years.