STUDYING IN UKRAINE

university of Chernivtsi

Ukraine is a virgin land for every potential Nigerian who cares to study abroad at an affordable price. Many foreign students have taken advantage of the educational policies that the government of the country which used to be a part of the Soviet Union made to accommodate foreign students.
Ukraine borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova (including the disputed territory of Transnistria) to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. Ukraine boasting of a population of about 50 million is the world's 44th-largest country (after the Central African Republic, before Madagascar). It is the second largest country in Europe (after the European part of Russia, before metropolitan France).

The country had its independence in December 26, 1991 and is made up of twenty four administrative provinces divided into 490 districts and has its capital as Kiev. Ukraine is a republic under a mixed semi-parliamentary semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal head of state. The legal tender is gryvnia and about five gryvnia exchange for a dollar. Ukrainian customs are heavily influenced by Christianity, which is the dominant religion in the country. Christian groups include Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Protestant Christians, Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine, Calvinists, Lutherans, Methodists, Seventh-day Adventists and the Embassy of God Church headed by a Nigerian Pastor Tunde Adelaja, which is the largest church in Ukraine.. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not excluded. Incredibly, Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on January 7th of every year. There are also about 500,000 Muslims in Ukraine most of which are the Crimean Tatars. Krishna Consciousness and Buddhist groups also exist there.
The culture of Ukraine has been also influenced by its eastern and western neighbors, which is reflected in its architecture, music and art.The national language according to the constitution is Ukrainian which is similar to Russian. Russian, which was the de facto official language of the Soviet Union, is widely spoken, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine. Many people use Surzhyk (a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian where the vocabulary is often combined with Ukrainian grammar and pronunciation).

Due to the state supported free education, the literacy rate in Ukraine is an estimated 99.4%.[2] The country produces the fourth largest number of tertiary graduates in Europe, while being ranked seventh in population. Many foreign students from all parts of the world learn in the different schools scattered across the country. They get qualitative study in many fields amongst which are engineering, management, business, languages and medicine, the course I study.
The process of admission is very simple. The requirements are a photocopy of the prospective student’s passport information page, birth certificate, school testimonials and Secondary School Certificates. These should be given to qualified agents who will get in touch with the Immigrations Department and Ministry of Education of Ukraine that will then issue an official invitation for study and a confirmation letter to the student. Under normal circumstances, all these shouldn’t take more than three weeks.

Then, the student will go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his home country for the legalisation of his school certificate, testimonial, birth certificate, certificate of eligibility for further studies (from the Ministry of Education), medical report(from specified hospitals) and travel insurance policy which could be for a year or a month.

After that, the legalised documents have to be translated into Russian language and the student is set to go to the Embassy of Ukraine or better still to a close country with a Ukraine Embassy if his home country doesn’t have a Ukraine Embassy. The student’s sponsor’s bank statement and eight passport photographs should also be taken along with a completed visa form. The visa form can be downloaded from the embassy’s website and printed. An important fact worth mentioning is that at times the embassy will request for a reservation of an air ticket or an already purchased air ticket to Ukraine with special arrangements already being done with certain airlines like Turkish Airlines. The interview will be conducted after which successful students are asked to pay the visa fees. Once the visa is issued, the student travels and on arrival is welcomed by his agent and/or friends. The agents are important in putting the student through immigration and getting the student to the school.

On arrival at the school, the student undergoes another medical test and gets medical insurance for hundred dollars. After these, the school fee is paid and the student is put in a group of ten or fifteen and study begins. The school fee varies based on the school and the course of choice. For instance, Medicine in Lugansk State Medical University goes for $4900 including accommodation. Russian or Ukrainian language is one of the compulsory courses to be taken.
Studying in Ukraine is a wonderful experience which helps one to meet people from all parts of the world and thereby creates diversity in culture and traditions. The Ukrainian people are good and welcoming and in no time students get used to their way of life. They discover that food, transport and so many life essentials are cheap and affordable.

The Ukrainian diet includes chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms, potatoes, grains, fresh/pickled vegetables, and different kinds of bread. Popular traditional dishes include varenyky (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, sauerkraut, cottage cheese or cherries), borsch (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat) and holubtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots and meat). Ukrainians drink stewed fruit, juices, milk, buttermilk, mineral water, tea and coffee, beer, wine and horilka or vodka. You could try out any or all of these. Don't expect to get palm oil or yam to buy in the markets except in certain cities with many Nigerians like Kharkov where some Nigerians sell such commodities in the open market.
The winters from November till February could be freezing, sometimes as low as -40 degrees Celsius and the summers from May till August could be very hot, at times reaching +45 degrees Celsius.

Ukraine is home to Shaktar Donetsk FC whose stadium received a five-star FIFA rating as one of the best in the world and in which the Nigerian striker, Julius Aghahowa played. It is also home to FC Dynamo Kiev where the Nigerian defender Yusuf Ayila practices his trade.
Ukraine is known to house the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and it is worth mentioning that the largest airplane in the world, An-225, was produced by Antonov, an airline company in Ukraine in the 1980s.

Kenneth O. Onojeta,
From Lugansk State Medical University.
+380931153266