Chennai: Ukraine medicos want seats in local colleges

Chennai: With returning to Ukraine ruled out due to the ongoing war, hundreds of medical students from Tamil Nadu, who were enrolled in Ukraine universities, staged a demonstration on Sunday urging the Union and state governments to accommodate them in local medical colleges.

There are 1,986 students from Tamil Nadu who were evacuated from Ukraine.

“The Union and state governments should consider allowing these students to continue their studies in our medical colleges as most students are not able to attend online classes due to the war,” said M R Gunasekaran, president of Ukraine MBBS Students’ Parents Association of Tamil Nadu.

Many parents urged the Tamil Nadu state government to get permission from the Union government to admit these students in medical colleges in the state. Arun Prasad, a fifth-year student from Kharkiv National Medical University, says he needs practical knowledge. “The fourth-year classes were conducted online due to the Covid-19 pandemic and fifth-year classes are being held online. The Tamil Nadu government should allow us to gain practical knowledge and experience by permitting us to join the local colleges,” he said.