Do something for Ukraine-displaced Jamaican students, Germans appeal

Jon Hendrik von Thiel, chargé d’affaires at the German Embassy in Kingston, has questioned Jamaica’s commitment to its displaced medical students who fled war-torn Ukraine last month.

Von Thiel, who is tapped to become Germany’s ambassador to Jamaica following the death of Dr Stefan Keil in December, said in a Gleaner interview last Wednesday that greater support for the students would show solidarity with Ukraine, which has been ravaged by Russia’s monthlong invasion.

“I would dare to ask the question, cannot Jamaica do something for its double-digit number [students] for their education?” the diplomat asked during the interview held at the St Andrew home of Ambassador Marianne Van Steen, head of the European Union Delegation to Jamaica.

He was responding to a question on possible scholarship opportunities within the European Union (EU) for the students, whose studies were disrupted as a result of the war.

Von Thiel said that while he was aware that the students were in Ukraine not only because of its stellar medical school programme, the Jamaicans were prompted to travel to Eastern Europe because they could not afford tuition fees at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

Students are asked to pay roughly $4 million per annum for medical school at the UWI, while medical school fees in Ukraine cost approximately $800,000 per year.

Fees at The UWI, when subsidised by the Government, amount to $870,000.

“The fees there are one-quarter in comparison to the fees at The University of the West Indies. So perhaps it’s also an idea here to help the students a little bit. Would it not be that Jamaicans show solidarity with the victims of the war in Ukraine with their own? Just a question,” he said.

Von Thiel said EU member states felt “a lot of solidarity and friendship” with the Jamaican students but noted that the war has displaced millions of Ukrainians, who are now seeking refuge in bordering European countries.

He said that there are three million refugees as a result of the war, 1.4 million of whom are children.

Of the overall number, 1.9 million have travelled to Poland and the rest to other surrounding countries such as Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.

“Those people are there. We are giving them everything right now – shelter and food. So we have a real, real effort to accommodate those who are standing at our doorstep,” he said.

Meanwhile, Van Steen told The Gleaner that the more than 40 displaced Jamaican students are being encouraged to apply for European-funded scholarships under the Erasmus Mundus programme.

She said while there are no guarantees that they will be successful, their circumstances could increase their chances.

“I would not be surprised that the circumstances would sort of give them some kind of priority status. But again, I cannot commit to that, but that is what I would recommend to those students if they would like to go back and study within the European Union,” said Van Steen.

The academic future of the Jamaican students who were enrolled in Ukrainian universities, the majority of them medical students, still hangs in the balance as local authorities continue to mull ways to facilitate their education locally.

In a recent Gleaner interview, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said that he did not see a solution on the table for the students.

“So between UWI, the Government, and the private sector, we try and find a way in which that additional cost can be absorbed by other stakeholders,” he said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com