CHANDIGARH: Opinion is divided on how or whether to extend educational help to medical students who have returned from Ukraine.
While the Maharashtra government is contemplating online lessons, a medical education association in Punjab has said these students should not be admitted in-state colleges.
Maharashtra’s Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh held a meeting on Wednesday on how these students can be assisted. It was attended by Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant, vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) Madhuri Kanitkar and Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council Manisha Kayande.
“MUHS has expressed willingness to conduct courses for Ukraine-returned students. These would be online courses, covering parts of the course which the students would have missed,” Kayande said.
Those who had taken admission to medical colleges in Ukraine in November 2021 or later may also be allowed to appear for NEET, the entrance exam for medical courses in India, said an official present at the meeting. Of the 18,000 Indian students who were studying in Ukraine, around 2,000 were from Maharashtra state, the official said.
Although there has been no such announcement, the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association (PSMDTA) has decided to formally object to any move of the Union government or National Medical Commission to accommodate these students in government medical colleges in the state, in the interest of students already studying in those.
Talking with this newspaper, PSMDTA president Dr Diwan Singh Bhullar said, “At a meeting of the association it was decided that students who have returned from Ukraine should not be given admission in government collages. The Centre should chalk out a plan for them. But we will oppose any move to accommodate the students who have returned from Ukraine in government medical colleges, as by this move meritorious students already admitted in these institutes will get affected.’’