Frustration and depression seem to be driving Ukraine-returned medical students back to the war-torn country. It has been about 8 months since they have been demanding to be accommodated in Indian medical colleges, but the National Medical Commission (NMC) has refused to entertain this idea so far. The petitions filed by the students against the NMC’s stance were heard at the Supreme Court yesterday, August 26. Though the court issued notices to the Centre and NMC regarding this, the hearing was adjourned to September 5. Students state their contention about waiting for some more time, while talking to EdexLive.
The compulsion
“Our universities in Ukraine have notified that they are starting offline classes from September 1. There is an option to continue online classes, but the NMC doesn’t validate online classes,” says Harsh Goel, a student from Uttar Pradesh who studies at Ivano Frankivsk National Medical University (IFNMU), Ukraine. The students also explain that for the fifth and sixth-year students, these are the penultimate and final years, and they have been advised to continue offline classes. “Clinical training is also required,” Harsh adds.
If students complete their courses online, the NMC will not validate their degrees, as per its 2021 guidelines, Harsh informs. “In this confusion, it is better to go back to Ukraine and see what happens there rather than sitting at home and waiting,” he says. At the same time, the students admit the huge risk but say that they do not have any more options left and have lost hope that the NMC or Centre will come to their aid now. “It is mass suicide, yes, but it is better than us watching our dreams die,” he states ominously.
“The fear of uncertainty is more fearful than death,” Shalini Chauhan, another student from Delhi, who studies at Zaporizhzhia State Medical University (ZSMU), Ukraine, states. She speaks about the risks and informs us that the situation in Ukraine is not stable. “The students had mailed the Ukrainian Embassy, which asked them to stay back in India and continue online classes. “My university has a nuclear power plant nearby so it has been shut down,” Shalini said.
But degrees over lives?
It may be noted that the Indian government does not permit the return of Indian students because of the risks involved. Hence, families are taking a tourist visa to countries like Moldova, Romania or Poland and then taking a transit visa from there to Ukraine and travelling via buses, informs Sonia Lumba, a parent of a Ukraine-returned student from Delhi. “I don’t think anyone should go like this. It is illegal and risky. Choosing degrees over lives is unreasonable. I do not understand how parents are allowing their wards,” she said.
“Students should wait for the court’s decision. Till then, they should choose online classes and should not risk their lives,” says RB Gupta, President of the Parents Association of Ukraine Medical Students (PAUMS), in agreement. However, he admits that the students face a dearth of options as the universities are calling them back and the third-year students have to attend the mandatory Prok exam in October, while the court’s judgement may take more time. All the same, he is hopeful of a favourable decision by the end of September.
Gupta additionally informs that the students who have gone back to Ukraine have to live in bunkers and the classes are also taking place in these bunkers. “They have to study in a frightening environment,” he states. Harsh, a few of whose friends from Delhi have moved back to Ukraine, confirm this fact. “They said that they have to run when they hear sirens. Ukrainian students are habituated to this. They know where to run and how to cope. But for us foreigners it is difficult and fearful,” he says.
Both Gupta and Lumba state that it is the university agents who are influencing the students to go back and have informed the students about the transit visa method. “The agents cited that the Supreme Court questions their merit and would not accommodate them,” Gupta says. Lumba, who was present at the hearing, says that the court indeed questioned the Ukraine students’ merit and was not in favour of accommodating them in government colleges.
On the other hand, Rajesh Soni, a parent from Punjab who has sent his daughter to Ukraine, says, “All the areas are not at risk. Only one or two universities are affected. The rest are continuing classes.” He informs us that his daughter was one of the first students to go and she went to Ukraine via Romania. “It was a very difficult journey. She had to undergo a long layover at Istanbul and then a 17-hour long bus journey to Ukraine,” he says. He also informs that his daughter’s university has stated that they would change their location to Scotland in case of any risk. “My daughter’s university is located 2,000 km away from the Russian border. She is safe. But it is concerning that there are about 18,000 other students stranded in India, who are unable to go back,” Soni states.
But is moving back the only option?
“There is an option of taking transfers and some students have already transferred to universities in Russia, Belarus, Romania and Georgia,” Gupta says. But he adds that the Ukrainian universities charged about $500-1000 for the transcripts and the students do not get the freedom to choose the place they would like to be transferred to. The university chooses for them, he informs and students confirm this fact.
“The NMC also does not permit mobility. When we approached the NMC with this problem, they were rude to us,” recalls Saddam Hussain, a student from West Bengal, who studies at Kharkiv Medical University. “Other issues for transfer involve learning a new language and spending a large amount of money once more,” says Harsh, while Saddam adds, “The universities also accommodate the students a year below their current year.”
