Government Medical college seats for Ukraine returnees is very good (and super stupid)

Carrying the rich legacy of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj forward, the central government through its ‘Operation Ganga’ has brought back approximately 18,000 Indians stranded in the conflict regions of Ukraine. The process began on February 22 and up until last week, more than 80 flights had been operated to rescue stranded Indians. The majority of rescued citizens are medical students who had left India to pursue their career in the medicinal field.

While the government saved their lives, the medical students have now filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court demanding the current administration to absorb them into the medical colleges in India. The petition also sought relief for providing an orientation program equivalent to the medical subjects for preparing them for the Indian curriculum.

According to Live Law, the petition filed through advocates Rana Sandeep Busa and Dr Neetu Naidu states, “It has to be taken into consideration that National Medical Commission (NMC) has allowed Foreign Medical Graduates to Complete their Internship in India due to the on-going war between Ukraine and Russia.”

It further added, “…so in this back drop the Government must consider the plight of the Medical students who were forced to flee for their lives leaving behind their Medical Education in between and returned back to India because of the ongoing war.”

Noble idea but no medical infrastructure in world can absorb 20k students 

While the idea seems good on paper and nobody will protest against it if the students are allowed admission but there is a serious and fatal flaw to this demand. There are limited medical seats in India, and if NMC plans to do an amendment now, then any medical student might return to India and demand a seat in Indian medical colleges at whim.

Numerous conflicts are happening at a given point across the globe. The students in those conflict zones will return to India and file similar PILs, demanding to be absorbed back.  To put it simply, there is no medical education infrastructure anywhere in the world that can absorb 20,000 students at the same time.

The NEET conundrum and lack of quality to clear Indian exams

Moreover, the majority of these students did not clear the standardized entrance exam, NEET, or may not possess the required marks to gain admission into the top Indian medical colleges. As reported previously by TFI, to get admission to an MBBS course in Ukraine, all students needed to do was qualify NEET. The marks did not matter and in some cases, the Ukrainian colleges did not even ask for NEET scores while granting admission.

Thirdly, the graduates from Ukraine’s medical colleges are not as sharp as their Indian counterparts. Reportedly, nearly 4,000 students with medical degrees from Ukraine take the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) each year, but only about 700 pass.

In 2019, 25.79 percent of foreign graduates cleared the FMGE, while the percentage was 14.68 in 2020 and 23.83 in 2021. The figures in the years preceding 2019 were even lower. Thrusting these students with a different curriculum into hardcore Indian curriculum will be a recipe for disaster.

Why do medical students go to Ukraine?

According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, there are almost 18,095 Indian students in Ukraine, and in 2020, they made up almost 24 percent of the overseas quota of the students. Such large numbers are propelled by the belief that Ukraine’s state-run universities are providing decent-quality education at a much affordable price.

The private colleges in India charge astronomical fees which is way out of reach for middle-class students. Thus, the Ukrainian medical colleges are a God-send opportunity. According to a Quartz report— fees for MBBS in Ukraine can vary from $3,500 to $5000 (Rs 2.65 lakh to Rs 3.8 lakh) per year which is affordable for the Indian students — and the education standards are high.

Meanwhile, in India a student needs Rs 10 to 12 lakh annual fee for this four- and half-year course, and one needs to spend Rs around 50 lakh to complete the course in any private college. According to the NMC, there are a total of 554 medical colleges in India offering a total of 83,075 MBBS seats through NEET. For 83 thousand odd seats, over 16 lakh appeared for the entrance exam in 2021.

As per NEET 2021 result data — a total of 8,70,075 candidates qualified for the exam. Safe to say, a vast majority did not land a seat in any decent government medical college. If the 20k odd students from Ukraine are granted admission to government or even private colleges, it will be a disservice to the 8 lakh failed candidates who appeared for NEET.

Read More: Why do so many students from India go to Ukraine for studies?

There is no simple solution to the current predicament the displaced Indian-Ukrainian students are facing. The government can chalk a stop-gap arrangement but a full absorption into Indian medical schools looks highly unlikely.