Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ghanaian medical students in Ukraine to continue studies in Grenada

Ghanaians studying Medicine in Ukraine whose education has been disrupted due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can now continue their studies in Grenada.

On Tuesday (March 08), the Ghana government signed an agreement with the Caribbean island state to secure spaces for 200 Ghanaian medical students who had to flee Ukraine to continue and complete their education at the St George’s University of Medicine, Grenada.

The Registrar of the Scholarships Secretariat, Kingsley Agyemang, and the Director of Recruitment and Commercial Engagement of the university, David Anthonisz, signed the agreement in the United Kingdom (UK).

The country is engaging other countries it has educational exchange agreements with to strike similar agreements; Mr Agyemang said this in an interview with local media.

The move, he said, would ensure that the 200 medical students continued with their education seamlessly so that they would return to the country after their programme to supplement the number of medical doctors in Ghana.

The Registrar said within the month, officials of St George’s University would interact with the affected medical students on an individual basis towards offering them admission.

The agreement follows an earlier Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ghana and the university, signed in 2019.

Under the MoU, selected students who have first degrees in medical sciences would be offered scholarships for postgraduate training in the medical field.

Mr Agyemang noted that the secretariat brokered the additional arrangement because the Ghana Medical School could not have placement for such continuing students.

The Scholarships Secretariat Registrar added that not all the students had arrived from Ukraine but the government was being proactive.

Asked about the remaining 800 students who were not studying Medicine, Mr Agyemang said the government was liaising with other educational institutions both home and abroad to ensure that they continued with their studies.

For his part, Mr Anthonisz said St George University of Medicine was excited and ready to absorb the medical students.

Mr Anthonisz commended the country for having a reputation for providing great students at the international level, saying that was one of the reasons for the partnership.

Last week, there were reports that a university in Hungary was preparing to absorb Ghanaian students. Some Ghanaian students who fled Ukraine had ended up in Hungary.