While Indian students who've been evacuated from war-hit Ukraine are happy to be back in India, they are now worried about whether they would be able to complete their education at all in the given scenario.
Every year, many Indian students travel to countries like Russia and Ukraine to pursue their MBBS degrees. One of the major reasons is the low-cost education that these countries offer to Indian MBBS aspirants. However, the current scenario of Ukraine being invaded by the Russian military has become a nightmare for the students currently enrolled in Ukrainian universities.
While some of them have beenevacuated from Ukraine, many students are still trapped in various parts of the country.Now, what lies ahead is a very uncertain future! But waiting around may not help as much, so here we have listed some options that students can consider in the interim.
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Taking Online Classes Until the Situation Improves
The very first option available to Indian students is to continue their medical studies at the same university and college by taking online classes until the situation gets better.However, the online classes have been terminated by the Ukrainian universities until March 11, 2022. Hence, students can start taking online classes as soon as universities are ready for it. But thedecision to take online classes might affect the credibility of the MBBS degree of Indian students enrolled in Ukrainian universities, since online MBBS degree is not recognised in India as per the laws of Indian Education.
A similar situation is being faced by Indian medical students enrolled in Chinese medical universities since they are not allowed to go back to their campuses due to visa bans and Covid-19 restrictions. Students have been taking online classes for the past two years and have no clarity on what is going to happen ahead.
Due to these rules that dont recognise online medical education in India, many students have reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting the intervention of the government. In addition to this, to find a solution, around 150 students enrolled in Chinese Universities have filed a petition in Delhi High Court for permission to practise physical training. The case will be heard on March 21, 2022.
If the Ukraine and Russia situation ceases to get better, Indian students can choose to file a petition for government intervention, which might allow them to practise physical training or recognise online medical education in India.
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Taking Transfer to Another Country/University
The second option that lies ahead for Indian students enrolled in Ukrainian universities is to get a transfer to a different university in other countries with similar education patterns and economic status. Some of thetop preferred destinations abroad for MBBS Indian students are thePhilippines, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Germany.
However, the challenge is that Indian Law doesnt permit Indian students enrolled in Ukrainian medical universities to continue their studies in a different country or a different university. The only thing that Indianmedical students can do on this issue requests the government to intervene and find a plausible solution. The former head of the National Board of Examinations (NBE), Mr Bipin Batra has said in a statement that the Indian government will have to intervene in the issue to enable Indian students to continue their medical education in or outside Ukraine without any hassle.
The President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Mr Sahajanand Pd. Singh has stated that he will be discussing the matter with NMC over the rules and regulations in place that do not permit Indian students to pursue their education at a different university.
Additionally, students in the first year of their MBBS program can start their education from scratch in a different country with different universities since there isn't much to lose. Various universities in the Philippines, Germany, or other countries are some of the available options.
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Wait Until the Ukraine-Russia Situation Gets Better
The last option for students is to wait until the situation gets better or the Indian government finds a plausible solution to all the regulations that restrict Indian medical students from taking a transfer or relying ononline classes to earn their MBBS degree.
A few months back, National Medical Council (NMC) proposed a ten-year cap proposal, which is a part of the draft of the National Exit Test (NEXT). As per the proposal, Indian medical students will likely get 10 years to complete their MBBS degree. However, the Union Health Ministry is yet to take any decision on the proposal. If the proposal comes into existence, students will not have the option to just keep waiting and will have to ultimately make a decision.
Currently, there is no year restriction on completing the MBBS degree. In other words, Indian medical students can take as many years to complete their MBBS degree.
Seeking Government Intervention
National Board of Education (NBE), National Medical Council (NMC), and Indian Medical Association (IMA) are the three main governing bodies that take the majority of decisions related to Indian medical education, MBBS admission, and medical practice in India. The three governing bodies will have to make amendments to currently regularized rules and mould them as per the convenience of Indian medical studies enrolled in Chinese or Ukrainian Universities.
An MBBS seat in a private college in India is quite costly and reaches upto INR 90 lakh and upwards. Whereas, the same education can be completed in countries like China, Russia, and Ukraine at half the cost and with better access to the latest medical equipment. The lack of medical seats in India and the much higher cost in private medical schools makes it extremely tough for students in the middle-income group to continue their education here. Various students who have to resort to countries such as China, Russia, and Ukraine for medical education and take so much stress wont have to do so if things were available and regulated at home.
The officials of the Senior Health Ministry have stated that the matter is being taken care of by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and that they are working towards increasing the number of medical seats in India. The National Medical Commission has also released the latest guidelines stating that private medical colleges and deemed universities should charge fees atpar with the government medical colleges for 50 per cent of their total medical seats.
The benefit of charging fees atpar with the government colleges must go to those students who are admitted under the government quota. And if the total number of students admitted under the government quota is less than 50 per cent, then the fee benefit will be available by the test of the students, purely based on merit.
Also Read:Why MBBS Abroad May Be a Good Option for Indian Students!
FilingClaims Under Insurance Policies
Given that wars, invasions or war-like crises are excluded from student insurance policies, Indian students returning from Ukraine may not be able to file claims for any kind of medical treatment.Student travel insurance policies' coverage during these tough times become quite limited. In addition, medical treatment is not payable in war zones and study interruption due to wars is also not covered. However, some student insurance policies do cover the cost of evacuation along with the loss of baggage or passport in unaffected countries.
Some insurance policies specifically cover political risk and catastrophe evacuation. In this case, the insurance provider pays for the return tickets of the insurance to the home country or the nearest safest place and evacuation is usually handled by the government, says Sanjay Dutta, Chief of Underwriting, Claims and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.
It is recommended that Indian students who have an overseas student policy and are stuck in Ukraine or neighbouring countries should check if their policy offers such coverage. Exclusions for any claim due to war-related crises is usually clearly mentioned in the policy. Some insurers may also offer support in other ways such as providing guidance on the ground and helping students get out of the crisis zone.
According to the data available in 2020, about 24% ofUkraine's overseas students are from India, amounting to a total of 18,095. Due to Ukraine's growing number of postgraduate medical schools, it has been regarded as one of the best study destinations with top universities in the world. This impeccable quality of education is being widely used by Indian students. The reasonwhy Indian Students prefer Ukraine for MBBS is that their state-run universities provide quality MBBS education at a low cost. This is a blessing for students from India, who usually have to pay a lot more for their studies in private medical colleges in India.
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