Uncertainty for Ukraine students
MBABANE – There is nothing yet in sight for the students who were forced to abandon their studies in Ukraine. A majority of these students were evacuated from that country after a war between Ukraine and Russia broke, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced.
The students started returning home in March through the assistance of the Taiwan Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. They arrived in the country in two groups almost a month after the fighting began in that country.
Others had already fled to safety in neighbouring countries when government sprang into action and fetched them. There are a few who, at first, remained in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries with hope that the war would subside and they would be able to return to college.
Nelisiwe Dlamini, the mother of Siphesihle Dlamini, said her daughter was sitting for her second-semester examinations, which she will be completing before the end of the month. She said she was not sure what would happen when the time for her to start the next academic year comes, which is in September.
She said the examinations are carried out online with the full support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which is also liaising with her daughter’s university in Ukraine. “The minister also gives financial support for necessities such as data bundles for internet access,” she said.
Nelisiwe said even though they have not had talks with government on the next academic year, she was hopeful that something would come up before September.
She said she has heard that at some point the students would be called to meet higher authorities of government to map a way forward. “Otherwise the locally-stationed international bodies are in constant contact with the students and they are communicating with them,” she said.
GOVT INTERVENTION SOUGHT
Other relatives of some of those who returned to the country stated that they were hopeful government would intervene by finding alternative institutions, where the students would be enrolled to complete their studies. “Government knows our plight and we still believe that it would do something to assist the students complete their studies because no one had anticipated what befell them,” said a parent who requested not be named.
The parents made an example of scholarships such as the one offered by the government of India, which they said could only benefit them if the government of Eswatini negotiated on their behalf.
The mother of another student said she could not say much because her daughter was currently overseas on another academic business that, however, had nothing to do with her studies in Ukraine.
Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi said the students have not formally been to the ministry to make any suggestions or let alone to discuss the matter.