Natalia and Jumiliya were working as translators with Interlink Resources, Inc when I first arrived in January. Now I call them friends. We try to catch up every week at least and this past Friday they stopped by to tell me some very shocking news.
Due to graduate from university in July, it was just announced that their university is no longer licensed to issue diplomas!! Apparently sometime in 2007 the University of Moscow closed all its branches in Kazakhstan, but the director of the branch in Taraz never mentioned this to the students, continuing to collect school fees and hold classes. Now, just months short of completion Natalia and Jumiliya are wondering what will happen. They can take the national exam, but can’t receive a diploma, necessary for the work that is already so hard to find and so desperately needed.
Will another school accept them as graduates? Maybe, but they could be forced to repeat a whole year and they will definitely have to pay fees again and perhaps even bribes. It's $1,000 for another semester, an amount the girls and their families aren’t able to afford. It’s hard to believe, but these girls have no recourse to fight back, no chance to confront the director, definitely no way to get their money back, and even if there is a court case it will take years to be resolved. Meanwhile the girls will not have degrees and not be eligible to work or move on with their lives. Right now they’re waiting to see what the other university students will do and praying that another college will accept them as graduates…
Due to graduate from university in July, it was just announced that their university is no longer licensed to issue diplomas!! Apparently sometime in 2007 the University of Moscow closed all its branches in Kazakhstan, but the director of the branch in Taraz never mentioned this to the students, continuing to collect school fees and hold classes. Now, just months short of completion Natalia and Jumiliya are wondering what will happen. They can take the national exam, but can’t receive a diploma, necessary for the work that is already so hard to find and so desperately needed.
Will another school accept them as graduates? Maybe, but they could be forced to repeat a whole year and they will definitely have to pay fees again and perhaps even bribes. It's $1,000 for another semester, an amount the girls and their families aren’t able to afford. It’s hard to believe, but these girls have no recourse to fight back, no chance to confront the director, definitely no way to get their money back, and even if there is a court case it will take years to be resolved. Meanwhile the girls will not have degrees and not be eligible to work or move on with their lives. Right now they’re waiting to see what the other university students will do and praying that another college will accept them as graduates…
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