India in talks with Poland, Romania, Kazakhstan for education of Ukraine evacuees: Jaishankar in LS

India is exploring the option of sending its students evacuated from war-torn Ukraine to Hungary, Romania and Poland as well as Kazakhstan to complete studies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Jaishankar said that the Ukraine government too had offered to exempt medical students from taking two key examinations. He also told the members of the Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Finance had asked the banks to assess the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the consequent repatriation of students from the warzone to India on the educational loans taken by them to pursue studies there.

The government found that 1,319 among the evacuees had outstanding loans, the External Affairs Minister said.

Hungary conveyed to India that it could allow medical students evacuated from Ukraine to complete their courses at its universities.

Nearly 22,500 people – mostly students – returned to India in the wake of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The Indian government evacuated a majority of them through Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova as the airspace of Ukraine was closed immediately after Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

“In addition to Hungary, there were offers from other countries. We have been in touch with Hungary, Romania, Kazakhstan and Poland about continuing education for the students evacuated from Ukraine. Because these countries have similar education systems,” said the External Affairs Minister.

He said the Ukrainian government has decided there would be a relaxation for students with respect to promotion from the third to the fourth year.

“The mandatory KROK exam has been postponed to the next academic year. As for the students in the sixth year, the degrees would be accorded without taking the mandatory KROK-2 examinations. The criterion would solely be academic performance,” Jaishankar said.

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