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 {click here to read it}.
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.
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