Mpumalanga’s Russian graduates receive hero welcome on arrival
Many of them studied at the North Caucasus Federal University in the Russian Federation and graduated with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. Three in the group graduated in medicine at the Tambov State Medical University, Nizhny Novogorod Medical State University and Ryazan State Medical University.
The 20 students from Mpumalanga who graduated in July from Russian state universities are back home and ready to serve. All of these graduates were treated to a hero’s welcome when they returned home last Thursday. They are among the first to be sent to different universities in the Russian Federation through a programme called Russian African University Services (RACUS).
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“It doesn’t matter what we went through, because God knows, we went through thick and thin, but there was one goal in mind, and I am happy that we achieved it and came back home with our degrees,” said RACUS’ Dr Protas Kum as he officially welcomed back the students. He said there were doomsayers who wanted to see the programme fail.
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“But in the end they failed and as you can see these are the results. The vision of the country has been achieved,” he said, much to the applause of parents and the new graduates. Currently there are 349 Mpumalanga students who are beneficiaries of the Provincial Ephraim Mogale Bursary Scheme who are furthering their studies in Russia. The MEC for education, Bonakele Majuba, congratulated the students and wished them well as they returned home and reunited with their families.
