Dylan Bettencourt
The South African medical students who fled Ukraine following the invasion of Russia in February say they are unable to get a place at local universities.
Over 50 students are unable to complete their degrees as they battle for entrance to their degree programme at a South African university.
The students wrote a letter on 25 May to the Department of Higher Education and Training in the hope of receiving some form of assistance.
They still have not received a response. Meanwhile, they say Ukrainian medical schools have managed to run virtual classes in the middle of a deadly war.
The students are now hoping that they will not lose out on an entire year of their education, putting their future careers as doctors and medical experts at risk.
“We are nearing the end of the academic year with our Ukrainian universities; many of us will be unable to obtain academic transcripts. The Ukrainian medical schools have, heroically, continued to offer virtual classes for their students during this difficult time, to ensure that we don’t lose this academic year,” their letter to the department read.
“Most students in clinical years have further managed to continue clinical rotations here in South African hospitals, as the universities provided us with letters for clinical placements.”
Final year student Luphumlo Ntengu said their exams were due to start at the end of May but were cancelled due to the invasion.
“We were about 38 students when we left Vinnytsia on 28 February by a bus that was organised by the school but paid for ourselves.
“The bus cost about R55,000. From Vinnytsia we went west to Lviv, from there to Budapest where we were hosted by Hungarian nationals and South African expats. From there we flew to Doha, then South Africa,” the student said, per GroundUp.
A spokesperson for the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said they were working with the department to register the students.
“Students have been advised to submit all documents that are required for curriculum review to enable the review process to be conducted expeditiously,” the spokesperson said.
However, Ntengu revealed that the group has not been contacted in that regard.
“We haven’t yet been asked by HPCSA or the universities to actually provide that documentation. We are ready with what we have when they are.”
Image source: @Mail&Guardian
