Twente Board rallies to help students from Ukraine
Twente Board is going to help the more than 250 students from Ukraine and Russia who have little or no contact with their parents, families and friends as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.
Besides the fear and concern, this group is also threatened by financial uncertainty. "As a region, we are going to do all we can to help these talented young people," informs Director Victor Jan Leurs.
The call to support the international community in Twente during these difficult times came from Saxion. "The war in Ukraine has made a big impression on all of us," says Anka Mulder, President of the Executive Board at Saxion. "It is a truly appalling and unimaginable situation. Saxion is of course also offering support, both emotional and practical, but I believe that if we join forces we can make a bigger difference for these students. And I’m really pleased by the positive reaction from our partners in the Twente Board."
The outline of an aid programme was swiftly put together during an emergency meeting of the Twente Board members. Saxion and the University of Twente (UT) indicated that they could offer immediate help to students and staff from Ukraine and Russia. The latter are also affected by the current situation. "The UT has an emergency fund at its disposal and the University Fund has also set up an emergency fund to help out," says UT President Vinod Subramaniam. "We can use this fund to help our Ukrainian and Russian students who are in financial difficulty. Additionally students and staff can turn to the organisation to tell their story and get counselling and advice if need be."
In the long term
Twente Board is also looking into ways it can help offer more certainty in the long term. "At Twente Board we work closely with entrepreneurs, education and government in Twente. One of our key objectives is attracting and keeping international talent in our region," says Victor Jan Leurs. "When Saxion and UT asked for help for these students, we didn’t hesitate for a moment. Of course we’re going to make every effort to help them. There is already an ongoing project in the Talent Programme where international students are linked up with businesses in Twente for jobs, internships and graduation projects. We are going to intensify this programme together with Novel-T, Saxion, UT and Ondernemend Twente (Entrepreneurial Twente). The entrepreneurs in the Twente Board have already informed Ondernemend Twente that they are going to organise lots of part-time jobs for these students. There are also students who are about to graduate now or in the next few months. At the moment they are unable to return to their home country. We also want to find a collective suitable solution for this. We can do this!"