Ukraine returnee students need govt assistance
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl
M– EmaSwati students who were evacuated from Ukraine in the midst of the Russian invasion say they have not been assisted to transfer to other institutions.
Eswatini had about 57 students studying doctorate and engineering courses, which are not offered in the kingdom. Since being evacuated and brought back home from Ukraine, some students decried that the war haa impacted their study plans while others faced the reality of dropping out if they did not transfer to other institutions.
Nontobeko Mdluli, one of the students, said she had been trying to transfer to other institutions but had met difficulties. “There is actually nothing that the government is saying. I have friends from Ghana who were writing an examination last Friday, which was meant to assist them to get admission into that country’s institutions, where they would complete their courses because, seemingly, the war is not ending soon. Though, she said, she was now studying online, such was not the ideal situation.
Ideal
“The ideal situation is to transfer to another institution and complete the course. There are several universities in Africa offering medicine studies. Some of them are just close by in South Africa,” she said.
Mdluli said in other countries, governments had intervened to assist the students to transfer and continue to pursue their courses, but in Eswatini such was not happening. “To convince an institution that you want to enroll in it, and complete your course, requires another level of assistance from government,” she said. Mdluli said the university she was studying in had not suffered bombardment, though several others in which emaSwati were studying, had been destroyed by the shelling as the war continued. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training Bhekithemba Gama referred questions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, saying the latter was best positioned to comment on the issue. However, the Principal Secretary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Newman Ntshangase, said the issue could best be responded to by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. “Foreign Affairs does not have the mandate to speak on the education of the students itself,” he said.