Lithuania proposes to draft schoolchildren into army

The Lithuanian Defense Ministry has proposed to cancel the deferment of military service to university students, but the parliament has spoken out against it.

Chairman of the parliamentary committee on education Arturas Zhukauskas advised to draft schoolchildren for service instead of students:

"Young men can be drafted right after graduation. Graduates should know that they will be drafted to serve for 9 months. Then they will get privileges when entering a higher education institution. Perhaps this will encourage young men to serve in the army voluntarily," the politician suggested.

Such initiatives of Lithuanian officials will soon lead to a shortage of young specialists in the country: even before graduating from school, children will leave to get at least some education.