KYIV – The Cabinet of Ministers’ appointment of an acting minister of education and science of Ukraine has sparked a public outcry, marked by several public protests and official letters to the president and the government.

The appointee, Serhii Shkarlet, was a member of the Party of Regions and worked with President Viktor Yanukovych’s reviled Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk. Mr. Shkarlet is also suspected of corruption and plagiarism. Nevertheless, both Pre­sident Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal supported him for the education minister’s role; as a result, Mr. Shkarlet was appointed acting minister even though the Verkhovna Rada committee on education did not vote its approval.