Wuhan may have become a household name after the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus but the historic Chinese city has been a much sought after education hub for Kerala medical aspirants for long with affordable and quality courses being the prime attraction.
While there is no official data on the number of Kerala students studying in the Asian nation, unoffcial estimates put it around 500.
Interestingly, an official said only after the virus scare the government learnt about a sizable number of students studying in Chinese universities.
India's all three positive coronavirus cases so far are Keralite students, two of them medicos, of a university in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus which has claimed 490 lives in China so far.
Impressed by factors like affordability, amenities and international standards in medical education, offered in English, students from Kerala have been flocking to the Wuhan University School of Medicine.
Wuhan, over 1,000 km from Chinese capital of Beijing and more than 800 km from the top class metropolis Shanghai, is a historic city and played a key role in the 20th century history of China.
"I am very happy about the medical education system at Wuhan university. They offer quality education at affordable fees," a student who had returned from Wuhan last month, said here.
Aiswarya Hariharan, a third year MBBS student, returned to India early January soon after the school was shut for vacation.
According to her, the Wuhan University School of Medicine has become a centre of attraction for MBBS aspirants from Kerala because of its international standard.
Overseas students prefer the university as the six-year- long course is offered in English for them.
"In our batch, there are about 70 international students. Interestingly, 50 of them are from Kerala," said Aiswarya from Tripunithura near here.
Parent of another MBBS student studying in Wuhan said he sent his daughter there because of its high standard of education in a fees affordable for him.
"I spent Rs 5 to 6 lakhs for fee, accommodation and food annually for my daughter. This fee amount is very less when compared with many of the self-financing medical institutes with least facilities in India."
"Besides, studying overseas is beneficial for the students as they get an international exposure," the parent said.
Revathy Krishnan from Thiruvananthapuram is also doing MBBS in Wuhan.
The third year student said she was very happy about her institute and its faculty which offer medical education at par with any other reputed Indian medical institute.
The students claimed that the facilities the institute offer at Wuhan university, which is also recognised by the Government of India, is of international standard.
The students said around 500 from Kerala are pursuing MBBS course at Wuhan University School of Medicine.
However, a government department set up to redress the grievances of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) said there was no exact data on this number.
Vice Chairman of the Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA Roots) K Varadarajan said no records of the Keralite students studying in Chinese institutions were available with the state.
"We believe that most of the Keralite students studying in Wuhan have returned to Kerala following the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus. But some of the students, whose courses will complete in coming months, are still staying back there," he said.
"There is no possibility to get the exact number of Keralite students studying in universities in Wuhan and other Chinese provinces. It is because of the virus scare, we came to know such a sizable number of students are studying in Chinese universities", Varadarajan told PTI.
Meanwhile, the students expressed confidence China would very soon overcome the coronavirus crisis and that they would be able to continue their education in Wuhan.
According to students, though there are about 35 medical colleges in Kerala not all of them could aspire to get a seat in one of them.
Educational consultant, Jacob George, General Manager of the Asian Educational Consultancy, however, felt the number of students who go to China for MBBS were minimal as several others preferred countries like Russia.
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