KOCHI: Over 70 Keralite medical students who returned from war-torn Ukraine protested in front of a leading private overseas education consultancy in Kochi on Saturday, demanding clarity on the procedure to acquire their original transcripts (mark sheets) from Ukrainian universities.
The students and parents alleged that the consultancy firm is taking advantage of their helplessness by asking them to pay additional money to obtain the original mark sheets that are required to secure admission in foreign medical universities.
“The consultancy has asked us to pay 1,000 dollars as fees for acquiring the original mark sheet from Ukrainian universities. Earlier, they asked us to pay 1,500 dollars and when questioned they reduced it to 1,000 dollars,” said a parent of a fourth-year medico studying in Ukraine. The officials of the consultancy firm held a meeting with the parents and students to hear their demands. “At the meeting, we raised our demand to hand over our mark sheet without charging any fees on a specific date,” said a medical student.
“When asked about the earlier demand for fees, the officials could not explain it. They later agreed to provide our original mark sheet (hard and soft copy),” she added. The parents said students from other states got the transcripts from their agencies without any fees. “Most of the students from Kerala went to Ukraine seeking higher studies through the agencies in Kochi,” they said.
When contacted, the educational agency said that it will take necessary steps to make the transcripts available to students at the earliest. They also said that an agent acting as middleman between the consultancy firm and the universities is demanding money.