5 months on, education of Indian med students from Ukraine still uncertain

As the war continues in Ukraine, around 18,000 Indian medical students are faced with the uncertainty surrounding the future of their education.
A group of Indian students who have returned from Ukraine wait with their luggage at an airport
A group of Indian students who have returned from Ukraine wait with their luggage at an airport

Earlier this year, the country watched with bated breath while around 18,000 Indian medical students in Ukraine travelled through a war zone to get back to the safety of their homes in India. Five months later, as the war continues in Ukraine, the same students are faced with the uncertainty surrounding the future of their education. 

A war was the last thing on his mind when Anugrah Varghese from Pulluvazhy, Perumbavoor, flew to Ukraine in 2018. His long-cherished dream of pursuing medicine was finally coming true. Almost four years went by uneventfully as he got busy with studies in Vynnitsia National Pirogov Medical University in what he describes as “the most peaceful city in Europe.” Even at the end of the fourth year, when the Russian threat became imminent, Anugrah and his friends weren’t expecting an invasion. It was on February 24, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine, that unease first replaced calm in their minds. Anugrah remembers his journey back as a traumatic experience. “Even after I reached Kerala, I stayed indoors for a while before I stepped out and joined a hospital here for observership,” he says.

Five months hence, it is not so much the war as the ambiguity regarding the completion of their medical degree that is worrying students like Anugrah.

‘Why can’t we be accommodated in Indian colleges?’

Returning to war-torn Ukraine to complete their education is not an option for most medical students who came home to India in March 2022. Several of them had their hopes pinned on being accommodated in Indian medical colleges for the remainder of their course. But the policy of the National Medical Council, reiterated in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar on July 22, to not authorise absorption of Ukraine-returned students in India, has dashed their hopes.

Shahida P H, the mother of fourth-year student of Bogomolets National Medical University, Amal Faiez, insists that it is possible to accommodate all of the returned students in India itself, if only the government was willing. Speaking from her home in Nettoor, Ernakulam, Shahida listed out what she believes to be potential solutions. “Every year, several seats become vacant in medical colleges when students discontinue the course. Even if all the Ukraine-return students were absorbed into such seats, there will still be vacant seats in our medical colleges,” she argues. She adds that they were willing to pay the same fees that they paid in Ukraine to Indian medical colleges, should her son be granted admission here. “We are ready to pay the same fee amount to whichever new institution Amal joins, whether it be in India or abroad. But paying an amount higher than the current 4500 USD is out of the question as we cannot afford it,” she says.   

Students are also considering the option of transferring to universities in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Aleena John from Maradu, Ernakulam, a third-year medical student at Bogomolets, said that as much as she would like the opportunity to complete the course in India, she does not think it is practically possible. Anugrah also expressed his skepticism at being accommodated in Indian universities. “Our next best option is to transfer to another country. But that also involves complications as several countries including India have restrictions on transferred students sitting for their license certification exams. The government should at least ensure that no such issue arises,” he says.

Praveena B Nair from Ochira, Kollam, fourth-year student at Bogomolets, says that the students are awaiting direction from the Indian government to end their impasse. “We need to be able to continue our education without wasting a year. Any solution in that direction is welcome,” she says. When asked about the government’s response so far, she points to the uncertainty that her friend studying in a Chinese medical university faced during the pandemic. “Till date, the government has not extended any help to my friend who returned from China last year. Naturally, this worries me,” Praveena shares.

Online learning won’t be feasible for all

Ukrainian universities are now considering the feasibility of mobility programmes wherein the entire university will be shifted out to neighbouring countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and others until the war is over.

Amal Faiez says that the responses from their university indicate that it is very likely that their course will continue in online mode till the very end. “There is a small possibility that academic mobility is enabled. Ukrainian universities will collaborate with universities in other countries to make sure that online theory classes by the former are supplemented with practical lessons at the latter,” he anticipates. Students like Anugrah are not likely to benefit from this because not all universities have agreed to this. “My university Vynnitsia, for instance, is saying that it is not practical for them,” he says.

Organisations such as the All-Kerala Ukraine Medical Students’ Parents Association (AKUMSPA) have decided to move the Supreme Court for a favourable decision. “No solution is possible without the government’s intervention. All of our children’s documents including their original certificates are at the university which is now in a war zone. Even if they were to apply for a transcript and transfer to another country, the government will have to intervene,” Shahida states.

Financial hurdles

Another fourth-year student Sahil K H’s mother, Smitha Harrish, expresses hope that the parents’ association’s activities will soon help them arrive at an amicable solution. “It is important for us to accept the reality that the students will not be accommodated into Indian medical colleges, no matter how much we wait. What I would like is for the government to help them supplement their online theoretical learning with opportunities for practical training in government institutions here. I am willing to pay the required fee for such clinical experience opportunities,” Smitha adds.

Many students had to take out loans to fund their studies in Ukraine. Both Anugrah and Sahil availed the loan with their houses as collateral. Amal Faiez’s parents, on the other hand, used the money they had set aside to build a new house to fund his medical education. The continued ambiguity regarding the future of their education is hence particularly worrisome for these students who will have to start repaying the loans in another two or three years.

It is the limited number of seats and exorbitant expenses of private medical education in India that is making students flock to countries like Ukraine. The practice of collecting donations is also a huge deterrent for many students. “Fees are actually affordable, it is oftentimes the donation amount that is unreasonable,” Aleena says.

When asked how medical education in India could be made affordable and accessible in the future, the unanimous response was that the number of seats should be increased and fees be moderated. “New colleges should be established and the number of seats in existing colleges should be increased. In my opinion, if medical colleges were to conduct classes in two shifts, that would double the numbers,” Shahida says. Smitha adds, “What we need is good doctors. We should increase the number of seats in medical colleges here because the kind of experience students get in India is unparalleled elsewhere.”

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