Mostly senior students of medicine, who need to join practical classes in hospitals, are returning to Ukraine in a hurry.
Nikita, a fourth-semester student at Ternopil National Medical University, left her hometown, Nagaon, in central Assam in mid-September. “Students in western Ukraine cities seem to be convinced that they should join regular classes now. I am among the first batch of Assamese students to return to Ukraine and probably the only one from Assam to arrive at the university, before classes started from October 1. Many others are likely to return here because there is no other practical solution to save our careers,” Nikita told TOI from Ternopil on Wednesday.
Mowsam Hazarika, a senior government official, was compelled to send his daughter Samadrita to Uzhhorod National University in western Ukraine again to fulfill his daughter’s ambition.
Of the 200-odd Assamese students who returned home in February-March, majority are medical students in government-run medical institutes. While the students leaving for western Ukraine are almost sure of their safety, the far northeastern cities like Sumy, from where a considerable number of students had returned to Assam, are still unsure.
Nilom Kalita, who spent almost two weeks in a bunker in Sumy before safe evacuation through “green corridors” said, “We are not convinced that the situation will improve in Ukraine soon. Even our university does not want us to be on campus at the moment and kept the online mode as the only option for attending classes and examinations.” Nilam is a final-year MBBS student at Sumy State University.
