Though Ukraine is considered be a country at war, students from India every year reach Ukraine to boost their future prospects with a university degree.
According to Ukrainian government data, currently 10,884 students study in Ukraine most of them opting for medicine, says an associate with the Ukraine Medical Education Centre Mohan Pandey.
The Ukraine Medical Education Centre assists students in applying for medicine in Ukraine.
Even though, India has umpteen noted medial colleges and universities, yet not all students are not opting these due to constricted figure of seats and fierce competition for admission whilst private ones are expensive.
Most of the Indian students attend state medical universities in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. The Donetsk National Medical University has retained its popularity with Indian students which had to move to the port city of Mariupol in 2015 after Russia unleashed its war in Donbas.
Advanced quality of education, low prices
According to Pandey, tuition fees in Ukraine for foreign students are about $4,000-4,500 per year, while the price of studying at a private college in India could be as high as $50,000 per year. Studying medicine in an Indian state university would cost significantly less – some $200-500 per year – but the competition to get a place in one is very stiff.
In India, a nation with 1.4 billion people people, being a doctor is among the most desirable jobs as about 1.2 million students apply for medicine each year. Nevertheless, state medical colleges offer merely 56,000 seats across the country.
“There are a couple of reasons that made me choose Ukraine. First of all, affordable fees, and I was not required to pass any language exam. Moreover, you have proximity to Europe, since I live in Uzhhorod, a city in the west side of the country, and a bustling Indian student population,” says Aikareshwar pillai, a third year medical student in Uzhhorod National University.
Unlike in Western countries, Ukrainian universities accept foreign students without standardized tests like IELTS or SAT. However, at the same time the level of education is high, says Shobhit Jayaswal, 24, the owner of the Delhi-based Global Medical Foundation, which helps Indian students to pursue a medical education abroad.
According to Jayaswal, the universities of Ukraine are globally recognized by major Indian and international organizations such as the Medical Council of India and World Health Organization.
By Sowmya Sangam
