Ray of hope for Ukraine-returned Indian students, Uzbekistan to relocate 2,000 students

Hyderabad: During the Ukraine–Russia conflict, many Indian students, most of them pursuing medical education, returned home.

Indian medical students from Ukrainian institutions have been pressing for admission to Indian medical institutes. The Centre, on the other hand, has refused to cooperate. The Supreme Court heard the case, and the next hearing is planned for 1 November.

Amidst the confusion regarding their academic prospects, many of the students have continued to attend online programmes. Meanwhile, a few others have taken the risk of returning to Ukraine to finish their degrees.

Now, Uzbekistan has stepped in to accommodate the Indian students in its universities. A press conference was held in Hyderabad, and along with student relocation, bilateral connections between Uzbekistan and India were explored.

The press conference, organised by the NEO group, was attended by Uzbekistan ambassador to India Dilshod Akhatov.

He commended the journey of the Indian students studying in Ukraine and presented provisional admission letters to the students who successfully passed the interview session conducted by the Government Higher Medical Institutes of Uzbekistan.

He also stressed how Uzbekistan has cultural similarities to India. "Even concerning language and words, we have a lot of common words, making it easier for Indian nationals. We also share a long history. Even before the silk route, we had a spice route," he said.

He added, "We are concentrating on expanding higher education and aim to make Uzbekistan the next big space for education in Central Asia."

On the exchange programme of medical professionals, he said, "Two groups of Uzbekistan doctors are working with Indian—AIG and Yashoda. We are also working with the Apollo Hospitals. We aim to develop joint ventures with the Indian government, a multi-speciality hospital. Medical tourism in India is booming. We want to learn that from India and use affordable tech in the medical field."

Speaking to the media, the ambassador said, "We can accommodate medical students and are working on increasing the number of seats to meet the future demands."

At the request of the Indian government, Uzbekistan's Medical Higher Educational Institutes (MHEIs) and Ukraine's ministry of health is providing 2,000 seats to Indian medical students from Ukraine with quality education by accepting the erstwhile MCI and NMC norms (screening test regulations 2002) and Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate - FMGL Regulations 2021.

Medical programmes

Uzbekistan stands out in international medical education by offering two undergraduate medical programmes to Indians—six-year MD diploma and 5+1-year MBBS degree with a one-year internship. To prepare students for the FMGE/NEXT exam, the Uzbek universities have an extensive modern infrastructure, many teaching beds in associated government hospitals and clinics, and 30% Indian and international professors with supplementary training.

Similarities in curriculum & culture

The press conference held on Thursday was attended by Ukraine returnee students and their parents. The majority of them were from Zaporizhzhya State Medical University.

One student, Samhitha Rao J, explained why she chose Uzbekistan and said, "The curriculum is the same, and also the temperature, language, and everything is similar to Ukraine, so we felt it would be easier." She will join Bukhara University to continue her studies from the fourth year.

"We had to give an online interview to the Uzbek university authorities. It was an academic one. Based on that and our transcripts, we got selected," said Vaishnavi, a fifth-year student.

Dr. Mehr Srinivas, the father of another fifth-year student, Mehermayi, said, "The universities the students are being accommodated in are among the world's top 20,000, and also considering the cultural similarities and distance from home, we felt Uzbekistan was the best option."

The three universities the Indian students are being accommodated in are Bhukara State Medical Institute and Tashkent Medical Academy in Urgench and Tashkent.