Studying in
Ukraine, has in recent times, been a topic of debate considering the alleged
racial discrimination being experienced by Nigerian students and the problem of
communicating in English Language. As English is not the official language
spoken in Ukraine, Nigerian students often have difficulties in communicating
when they travel there for their studies.
To buttress this, the Nigerian Ambassador to Ukraine, Frank
Ngozi Isoh, has advised Nigerian parents to be wary of sending
their children to English Language training institutions as Ukrainians are not
proficient in the language.
In September, the National Universities Commission (NUC) had
said some states sponsor students to sub-standard universities abroad and
Ukraine was one of the countries mentioned. The Executive Secretary
of NUC Professor Julius Okojie also made reference to a university in
Ukraine where there are over 800 medical students and some of the students do
not have the qualification in basic sciences.
In a recent report by Daily Trust, the Ambassador made some startling revelations
that raises some doubts about the idea of studying in Ukraine.
The Ambassador said that Nigerians won’t get the best when it
comes to studying in Ukraine with the English Language. “One thing I will like to say
about education in this place, and this is something we intend to package in a
report to government to see how this can be propagated back home – I do not
think that Nigerians get the best when it comes to studying in this place in
the English language.”
While noting that the lure for most parents is the low cost
of tuition which is about $3,000 for a course that could cost up to $20,000 in
the United States or Canada, the Ambassador further said that the people
who teach them in English language are natives of Ukraine who are also not very
proficient in the language.
He advised students who want to study in Ukraine to first learn
the local language in order to get the best out of the education system. While
speaking on Universities in Ukraine offering medical courses, he said he
doesn’t think Nigerian medical students trained in English get the best. “We don’t think that Nigerian
medical doctors trained in English speaking universities here get the
best. But those who endeavour to learn the language and then attend
lectures with the natives certainly get better trained.”
It was only weeks ago that news of a Nigerian student studying
in Ukraine who faced life imprisonment for allegedly defending himself
against six teenagers surfaced in the media. What was noteworthy about his
case is that he was remanded in detention for several days by the Ukrainian
police who refused to take the case to court citing unavailability of the
police to get an interpreter for him.
If you were planning on studying in Ukraine, it might be wise to
listen to the advice of the Ambassador.
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