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.
