Even though the case filed by Ukraine medical students with the Supreme Court got disposed of on Tuesday, March 28, with them getting some relief, it also created a lot of confusion. A lot of questions regarding many things are being raised by the students and their parents.
"Now the question that is doing the rounds is when these students are appearing for an examination conducted by the NMC (National Medical Commission), should they appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examinations (FMGE)? Also, clarification is needed as to whether this verdict is applicable to students in other years too since everything was tagged together. So, what about the students in their second, third, fourth and fifth year?" asked Silvi Sunil, Secretary of the All Kerala Ukraine Medical Students and Parents Association (AKUMSPA). The NMC has not made it clear as to whether the students in the second, third, fourth and fifth years need to go back to Ukraine, she added.
Two sets of medical graduates?
"They have said that the students in second and third years needn't go for practical exams. They just have to do the theory. They will be doing the practicals only in their fourth year. But where? Nobody is talking about that! Will they too be covered under the present scheme of things decided for the final-year students?" she asked. All in all, the situation now is such that we are getting two sets of medical graduates, she said.
"One group that went back braving the war and got the chance to do practicals properly in a hospital set-up and another which is studying medicine online with very less practical experience," she said. According to her, the students in the sixth year (the fifth-year students at the start of the war) did receive some relief. "These students will have to clear the examinations in two attempts besides doing an internship for two years. So, what about around 750 students who are continuing with the course in Ukraine? It is being said that they need to do just one year. But yet again there is no clarity," she said.
Neglected by the Government of Kerala
Another thing that was pointed out by the students from Kerala is the abject lack of support from the state government. Around 3,650 Ukraine medical students from Kerala suffered neglect at the hands of their state government, said Silvi.
"Even as other state governments like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Odisha took part in the meetings called by the committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Director General of Health Services for finding a solution to the problems faced by the students, allegedly nobody from Kerala turned up," she said. How can a state government do that to its children? asked Silvi. The state government had made tall promises and even announced an aid of Rs 10 crore for the students. "But all that's an eyewash. Just a publicity stunt," she said.
