SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Mar 7: The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to push Indian students to explore other options for MBBS abroad. The two countries attract a large chunk of students from India for the course. But according to admission consultants, parents have already started conversations for other options other than Ukraine. This could be a temporary trend lasting a year though, say executives at these platforms who see destinations like Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Germany and the UK among others, gaining popularity.
“While for the current batch of Indian students enrolled in Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Germany can turn out to be the next best options as admissions in these countries take place from March to September,” said Praveen, an admission consultant. More than 1,800 students from the platform have so far gone to foreign campuses for MBBS and about 30% of them have opted for Ukraine and Russia, he added.
“The cost of pursuing MBBS at a college in Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is around Rs 30-35 lakh, according to experts. “With the conflict going on between Ukraine and Russia, we think that countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Germany, Spain and Italy will see an increase in demand,” said Tarun Aggarwal of StudyAbroad at CollegeDekho.
“Pursuing MBBS in Bangladesh and Nepal costs a tad higher, at around Rs 40-50 lakh for the entire duration, while it is Rs 55-60 lakh in Spain, Italy and Germany,” added Aggarwal. CollegeDekho helps students get admissions in foreign colleges round the year.
Aggarwal said that his firm has already started talks with parents of Indian students who have just returned from Ukraine for alternate destinations including Bangladesh. Majority of the Indian students who went through these six platforms have been evacuated or are in the process of evacuation, their executives said.
Notably, last year, over 1.6 million students registered for NEET and over 800,000 of them cleared the examination. However, the seats available were around 90,000. MBBS destinations such as Bangladesh have always ranked on the lower end of the Top 10 countries to study at for Indian students, according to Arun Mukherjee, another admission consultant. “However, considering the current situation, we see Bangladesh and neighboring countries taking a steep growth in student numbers and a big reason obviously being the ongoing crisis in Europe,” he said. Mukherjee also sees Ukraine taking a hit, temporarily, at least in case of current and upcoming batches.
Studying medicine from neighboring countries also gives them access to studying diseases and treatments that are similar to that of India and its geography, said experts.
Meanwhile, Indian students in Ukrainian universities—numbering around 20,000—are staring at an uncertain future amid the raging war. While evacuation is a paramount concern for governments across the globe, the Russian invasion has thrown international students’ academic journeys out of kilter.
Ravi Kumar, a study-abroad consultant who has helped hundreds of Indians with admissions to MBBS courses in the east European country said the students would not lose academic years, because the National Medical Commission will allow them to be transferred to other universities.
Kumar said that students of one Ukrainian university could be transferred either to other universities in the country or to universities in another country. He advised students to make decisions carefully.
Talking of an option for them, Kumar added, “In 2014, some students chose to take the transfers and others decided to stay where they were. The Indian embassy had facilitated the transfer of students enrolled in the universities in the areas affected by the annexation.”
Notably, in February and March 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Back then, over 600 Indian MBBS students enrolled in Crimean universities such as Premiere State Medical University and Crimea State Medical University faced similar circumstances.
However, Mukherjee called the current crisis ‘very different’ from what happened in 2014. The majority of students did not come back to India during the 2014 Crimean crisis, and just over 500 students had to be managed. Hence transferring these students to the eastern region of Ukraine was a feasible option,” he said.
