Just a month ago, the possibility of a war did not concern young Indian medical aspirants as they prepared for classes in various medical colleges in Ukraine. Within days, however, the quiet snow-laden landscape that students had come to call home left them out in the cold.
In the initial days, the reassurance of university officials and the Indian embassy bolstered their confidence, and they continued their daily chores, purchasing grocery and visiting shops, though their counterparts from other countries had left.
Then things rapidly went from bad to worse and bunkers at universities and train stations became shelters. Students, mostly in the late teens or early 20s, had to fend for themselves wondering about their next meal, and whether they would get home alive.
In the last week of February, flight services were indefinitely suspended from several cities of Ukraine. Those who had booked their tickets early managed to return. Many travelled by foot or train, if they could manage it, to cities close to Ukraine‘s borders, hoping for help. The train journey was tortuous. They travelled on an empty stomach for several days, braving cold and hostility, sometimes, from Ukrainian citizens, also fleeing to safety.
Students posted videos of their plight and appealed for rescue on social media, hoping to catch the eye of Indian officials.
It resulted in the Central and State governments reaching out to them. They have returned to safety, but their parents, who had invested lakhs of rupees in the hope of a medical degree, are doubly burdened.
What would be the future of these youngsters who had taken NEET but had to seek a medical degree abroad, as they did not manage to land MBBS seats in government colleges or could not afford to study in private medical colleges. This is a question that stares everyone affected in the face.
Huge amounts spent
The family of Vishwa of Mamsapuram near Srivilliputtur, who had taken NEET twice and could not get a college of his choice at counselling, rejected China owing to the COVID-19 scare, said his father K. Jayaseelan.
“I was told that the medical course there was similar to India,” said the high school dropout who has kept his sons out of his milk farm so that they could carve a better future for themselves. He sold his three-acre plot for Vishwa’s education and has so far spent ₹20 lakh in two years for education at National Medical University, Kharkiv. His elder son, an engineering graduate, is preparing for competitive exams.
“I do not know what will happen to my son if he goes back if and after peace returns. His safety is more important. I will be happy if the Centre and the State give medical seats to students like him to help them complete their education,” he said. Vishwa is keen on returning to Ukraine, provided both the Indian and Ukrainian governments can assure the safety of Indian students.
“Indian students faced a similar situation in 2014. What if we face a backlash on the streets as India did not support Ukraine,” he asked.
He is prepared to take any entrance exam the government may prescribe for returnees like him. Vishwa is also looking forward to resumption of online classes on March 13.
R. Panneerselvam, a master garment cutter in a private apparel firm in Tiruppur, was relieved to receive his son P. Aravindhan, 17, on March 7 after a week’s ordeal. The resident of Kovilvazhi went to Kharkiv in 2021 to study medicine. “His NEET score was low. So he wanted to go to Ukraine,” Mr. Panneerselvam said. “We have not thought about the next course of action yet. But he cannot go back to Ukraine to continue his studies.”
He wanted the State and Union governments to allow his son to continue his studies in India and planned to seek the assistance of the Tiruppur Collector. As many as 22 students from various towns in the district have gone to Ukraine for higher studies, according to estimates.
T.E. Shaiyhenath of Coonoor, whose daughter Shaiyhe Sonu, 21, has completed the third year at Vinnitsa Medical College, is also hoping for her to be allowed to continue her degree at a college in India. She is the first from the Nilgiris to return home.
For Prema Kumaresan, mother of Poojya, a third-year student at Vinnitsa Medical University, safety is paramount. “The students are ready to go back to complete their studies but their safety is of concern.” Ms. Poojya cleared NEET but had to opt for a management quota seat “and the fees were not affordable”, her mother said.
Now that the students had returned, the governments should consider steps for them to continue education here without having to spend a huge amount, Ms. Kumaresan said.
Adopted home
But the Nagapattinam-based Jaya Preethika Annadurai, 22, is hoping to return to the west Ukrainian city of Ternopil to complete the course. “I feel I have left my home town,” said the student, poised to graduate to the fourth year of medicine course at Ternopil National Medical University. Her elder sister, who is practising medicine after graduating from a Ukrainian university and clearing the qualifying exam in India, inspired her. “My sister is now working at the Nagapattinam Government Hospital. My parents encouraged me,” she said.
“Even if we are allowed to continue our course in India, I don’t know if we would be welcome here. Local students may resent us jumping the queue when they have to go through so many steps to reach the same goal of studying medicine here,” she pointed out.
“The course fee for the six-year programme in Ukraine is around ₹4 lakh a semester. We learn the same subjects as Indian students; many of our text-books are by Indian authors. Passing exams every semester is a must to graduate to the next year — the concept of arrears doesn’t exist,” she explained.
When she began the course, there were only eight students, but now there are 50, she added. Her retired father and her mother, a government employee, have been supportive.
Alexander Jacob George remembers the 2021 fall in Kharkiv as vibrant, bright and beautiful. When he was instructed to down shutters of the train window he boarded in Kharkiv to escape the war, his last view of the city was of fire, dust and the sounds of shelling.
“It was my second home. It is heart-wrenching to witness it fall apart,” said Mr. George, a fifth-year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, who returned to Tamil Nadu recently.
“I feel blank. I don’t know the road ahead yet. There is still some faint hope that I could go back. But if not, I’m not sure what to do. I hope the State government, which helped in getting us to the border, finds a solution for this as well,” he said.
Fashi Alavuddin, 21, of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, chose Ukraine as “I was asked a donation of ₹1 crore here. My current fee is only one third of it.”
He is unsure of the options here. “We want to go back. There is talk that Poland has agreed to accommodate students from Ukraine in its colleges. We are more than willing to study here, if given an option,” he said.
Low clinical exposure
It may not be so easy to switch colleges either. Aswanth Jayakumar, a fifth-year student of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, said, “The syllabus and the teaching mechanism are very different. The clinical exposure students have here is far higher than what we have had. We would love to continue the course here, but it is not going to be easy,” he said.
P Vijayakumar, a general physician in Walajabad and an alumnus of a medical college in Ukraine, agreed with him. Students from abroad must qualify in the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination.
“The clinical exposure of government college students is nearly 10 times higher for the students here. An extremely passionate student of medicine who is willing to give it his all can certainly cope. It will be pretty challenging but possible,” he explained.
Authorities are confused
His views are in consonance with those of medical educators. Former Director of Medical Education V. Kanagasabai put it thus, “It is a complicated issue. It is only since 2019 that NEET became mandatory. What is their score in NEET? What happens if those with higher marks in NEET have done other courses? We have to look at this with compassion. Students with higher scores could go to court. Besides there are a large number of students and they should make their own arrangement to continue perhaps in a country willing to accept them,” he opined.
Even deemed universities are uncertain about the prospects of these students. P.V. Vijayaraghavan, Vice-Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, admitted that there was uncertainty. “We cannot admit students beyond the sanctioned strength. If the government tells us that we can take maybe 5% more students, we would be able to accommodate 25 students. The National Medical Commission should give a clear directive,” he said.
CM intervenes
Last week, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote to the Union Health Ministry, urging it to come up with a solution. Over 1,500 students have returned home. They will have to return to take possession of their original certificates from the universities but that is the last of their concerns.
The State Health Department has launched WhatsApp groups to remain in touch with the students. Counsellors have been deployed 24x7 to talk to the students and address their concerns.
Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said the Chief Minister pointed out that the students’ future should be secured by admitting them in Indian colleges. Some doctors’ and medical students’ associations are for favourably considering the plight of these students.
Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association president M. Keerthy Varman felt the students had gone to foreign countries because the fees at private medical colleges were exorbitant. If each of the 300 to 350 private and deemed medical colleges could absorb 15 students, they could continue their education. “The Central government should take the responsibility and give recommendations for allowing them to continue their education at private colleges and deemed universities,” he said.
The association’s general secretary, K. Ganapathy Subramaniyam, also felt the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Ministries concerned should be directed by the Union government to enable the students to continue their education.
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said, “It is for this reason we are against NEET. Left to us, we could have made some decision. Now everything has to be decided by the NMC.”
Grappling with NEET
Officials and the Tamil Nadu Medical Council pointed out that making NEET mandatory had prevented the States from helping the students.
Tamil Nadu Medical Council president K. Senthil said, “There are 90,000 seats for which 9 lakh students take the test. But only 10% of the qualifying students get seats in India and roughly one lakh students with financial wherewithal go abroad for education. If the government were to provide them a seat, it would beg the question of merit in medical education.” Also, only the government could open the other avenues of education for them, he added.
“There are many ifs and buts. There are questions whether it is temporary and the students can be accommodated in neighbouring countries. This is why we are against NEET. There are many ifs and buts. The NMC may have to relax conditions if these students are to be accommodated. Besides there is the issue of students who have returned from China. They are still pursuing online classes,” said Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.
( With inputs from S. Sundar in Madurai; R. Akileish in Tiruppur; Vignesh Vijayakumar in Salem; Nahla Nainar in Tiruchi; Rohan Premkumar in Udhagamandalam; and Sunitha Sekar and Serena Josephine M. in Chennai)
