'Students caught up in Ukraine due to compulsory classes by Kharkiv varsity'

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, February 25

Many parents of the MBBS students studying in Ukraine have said that it was because of the delay on the part of Kharkiv National Medical University to allow the students to take online classes owing to which they could not book flights for them earlier.

“My daughter Jasmine Kaur would have been with us well in time, had there been no insistence from the side of the university authorities. We had been after her since the past few weeks telling her that she should get her flight booked and return as soon as possible. But she told that she could not take a break from the university at this crucial juncture for it was important for all the third and fourth year students to continue their classes till few days back. When she finally agreed, we could get the earliest ticket on February 26. Had the Russian attack not started, she would have been with us tomorrow,” said Pavittar Singh, who is the branch manager of LIC in Jalandhar.

Pavittar Singh added: “My daughter had been residing in an apartment close to the metro station at Kharkiv. She and her roommates had been rushing to the metro every time the sirens were blared. The station is at a three-minute distance from their apartment. When things would normalise, they would return to the apartment, cook and have meals and take some rest. They had been following this practice since yesterday. But today, they were all told to use the basement of the apartment itself whenever the siren was sounded. On our part from here we have been trying to soothe and calm them as much as possible. We asked them if they could reach borders, but they said that it is 17-hour run from Kharkiv and the whole route is rid with risks and challenges. So we advised them to stay where they are till the time some official help reaches them. We just hope that they stay connected on phone.”

Like Jasmine, there are other MBBS students caught up due to compulsory classes. Jyoti Sharma, a government school teacher from Kapurthala, said her son Shivang Sharma is pursuing MBBS in fourth year from Kharkiv and is currently putting up at the metro station there. “He just has few water bottles and packets of chips since yesterday. We were expecting him to be back by February 28 as he had got the flight booked but we did not know that the things would take a turn this way. We could not get an early ticket as he had been attending compulsory university classes till the last week and then there were no flights available till February 28.” She added: “I am really worried at the situation and want him back by any means.”

Rajesh, father of Nitin Arora, who too is stranded in Ukraine, said: “All that we want is that our son should somehow reach the borders. He is already making his best attempts. Once he reaches the camp, he might be air-lifted by the Indian government.” His family resides at Sangat Singh Nagar here.

Why Indian students choose Ukraine for medical degree?

Parents of the MBBS students studying in Ukraine said it was owing to lesser fee and easy criteria that they were sending their children to take the course to the country. “In India, a parent has to spend Rs 1 crore as fee for the six-year course whereas in Ukraine, we will have to shell out just Rs 40 lakh which will include our son’s fee, stay, food, travel, flight expenses etc. Our son has been coming to India every year,” said Shivang’s mother adding: “There is a lot of competition in India. My son had dropped a year too. He insisted that he wanted to do MBBS only. So we sent him to Ukraine and he has been happy there.”

Pavittar Singh says: “Even my daughter had no issues in Ukraine till this war situation came in. Many of her schoolmates are there. When she would return, her only issue would be to clear Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) after which she would be eligible to practice here.”