As the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalates, international students who have sought sanctuary in neighboring nations or their home countries confront a new challenge: transferring to another university to complete their degree.
Students who have successfully escaped Ukraine are apparently having difficulty locating colleges where they can transfer and finish their degrees. Many were completing their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, or MBBS. Prior to the war, Ukraine was home to over 76,000 international students, the majority of whom were from India and Africa.
It was a popular study location for a variety of reasons, including low tuition fees for medical programmes, manageable student visa procedures, and a gateway to European residency. For their own safety, many Ukrainian students are fleeing their colleges in the midst of the conflict.
According to Al-Jazeera, almost 10,000 Indian students have been evacuated from danger zones, and 2,179 Egyptians studying in Ukrainian universities have applied for a transfer to local universities.
Some governments have stepped in to assist students who have been impacted by the crisis in completing their education. Indians who earned their MBBS in Ukraine but were unable to complete the required 12-month internship as part of their degree, for example, are being offered positions at local medical college hospitals.
Under India, internships are required for students to practice locally, although the National Medical Commission (NMC) modified laws for medical studies in “compelling” events such as a pandemic or war.
Students pursuing MBBS in Ukraine lack access to transcripts
Nonetheless, the sudden departure of thousands of children has created a slew of complications. As a result, thousands of students are left with no proof that they ever studied for their MBBS in Ukraine, making it impossible for them to locate alternative institutions to finish their studies at.
According to Ahram Online, only 941 Egyptian students who applied to transfer to local institutions have proof of enrollment in a Ukrainian institution. Nabila Makram, Minister of Emigration, claims that Egyptian universities are unable to accept students without it. Students are currently given three months to gather the required documents, which they must then submit to the ministry’s headquarters.
Furthermore, students must show on their passports that they have residence permits stamped before February 24, 2022, the first day of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as certificates for previous courses done. College admission exams are required for students pursuing degrees in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and engineering.
Additionally, Indian students who have access to their transcripts may be allowed to transfer to local colleges due to curricular and academic standards differences. This would make it extremely difficult for a second-year MBBS student, for example, to continue his or her education at the same level at an Indian university.
“In each university system, students are taught a certain number of hours of medicine, surgery, gynaecology, etc.,” Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, Dean of Medicine and Education at Aryabhatta Knowledge University and former inspector of affiliation with the Medical Council of India was quoted saying by The News Minute.
“These hours have to be balanced with the Indian norms. Ukraine follows the American pattern of medical education, we follow the British pattern. Subjects taught there in the first year might be taught here in the final year and vice versa. So the corresponding courses for each batch can be difficult to establish,” he continued.
Analysts said that if Indian students in Ukrainian universities were allowed to move to local institutions, a screening process to assign students to different schools, a modification of fee structures, and further training to adjust to the national curriculum would be required.
Universities in Poland and Hungary have opened their doors to students who are unable to complete their education at their original schools in a public expression of sympathy for those affected by the Ukrainian-Russian war.
Group of Lasers and Plasmas in Portugal has given a one-year research fellowship to students and researchers from Ukrainian universities, as well as the opportunity to have tuition expenses covered if students opt to transfer to Instituto Superior TÉCNICO and the University of Lisbon.
As of Thursday, 862 Egyptians had successfully relocated to institutions in Poland, according to Makram. Prasad advised that the Indian government assist students in financing their studies if they opt to complete the remainder of their degrees in Europe.
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