They say their future in terms of returning to their universities and finishing courses offline is defoliated
Indian students studying medicines in Ukraine are facing the same issues now as the ones who were forced to leave their universities in China two years ago due to the COVID-19 outbreak. They say their future in returning to their universities and finishing courses offline is defoliated.
The National Medical Commission does not recognise online education, which, according to the students stranded in India, causes loss of multiple years for them. Both sets of students complain that there is no end in sight, adding to their trauma.
Students registered in China say that after two unpredictable years, following COVID-19 restrictions, many had shifted to colleges in Armenia to finish their course, while others (especially the ones in the final year) have repeatedly appealed to the Indian government to negotiate and help them return to China. They say the shortage of medical seats in India and extremely high college fees in private establishments is the main reason for students heading abroad.
‘Very costly in India’
Vinaya Chandran from Wuhan University, China, said “An MBBS seat in a private college costs a minimum of ₹90 lakh anywhere, which in countries like China, Russia and Ukraine can be accomplished at half the cost along with the usage of the latest technology. The lack of seats in India makes the environment extremely tough for the students of the middle-class group. Now, many students studying in various universities in China have shifted to colleges in Armenia because they don’t see any future in India or China, and over two years have passed by.’’ He is all set to finish his course in the next three months. He added that his juniors were apprehensive about how this crisis would play out.
“Both the governments should help the children to secure their future and not leave us in the slip. Nobody chooses to leave their parents and a familiar home lawn to go into a completely new country and put themselves at so much stress if things are convenient and synchronized at home. The Indian government shouldn’t punish us for wanting a secure future,’’ stated another student from China.
‘MEA should look into the matter.’
Senior Health Ministry officials said the matter had to be looked at by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). It was working towards increasing the number of medical seats. The National Medical Commission’s latest guidelines noted that private medical colleges and deemed universities should charge 50% of their seats on a par with the government medical colleges in that State or Union Territory.
“This benefit would go first to those admitted under the government quota, and if the government quota seats are less than 50% of the total sanctioned ones, then the remaining candidates will avail the benefit of a fee equivalent to the fees of the government medical college, purely based on merit,” an official memorandum issued on February 3 said.
Students from Ukraine said their universities were closed, and right now, their priority was to reach a safe place.
“We don’t know when things will normalise or when we can head back. We may even have to repeat the year. It’s all in flux right now,’’ said P. Sahoo, who is now back home from Ukraine. If India developed its medical sector and increased the number of government medical colleges, no student would ever head out of the country. “We are forced to travel out because it’s so expensive to do graduation in medicine in India,” he added.
Edited By : Mahek Vaja
Published By : K. Bindhiya Prarthana
