Levels Of Traps

Right now, one lot of students have just completed their Secondary Education Examination (SEE) and another is preparing for their twelfth grade exams. Soon, these students will face a dilemma when it comes to choosing what direction they want to head towards after receiving their results.

It is unfortunate that in our society, a majority of parents expect a lot from their children. In general, they do not care about their child's interests and abilities, but pressure them into studying one of medicine or engineering. To make the situation worse, a number of educational consultancies sell these young people sweet dreams of becoming doctors and engineers without breaking a sweat.

Problems arise when students do not get the right information at the right time. Since the secondary and post-secondary education systems in Nepal have been going through a transition phase, the task of deciding on a career has become even more challenging for students. As there is a tough competition and a limited number of spots available in the medical and engineering fields, only a few students succeed in the university entrance examinations to study these subjects. In an effort to live their dreams through their children, parents often see sending their children to India to pursue medicine or engineering as the next best alternative.

Unfortunately, these young school leavers do not have sufficient information about Indian colleges or universities to choose what is best for them by themselves, so they inevitably depend on educational consultants. Those who got relatively low scores have a meager chance of getting accepted into an authentic Indian college. Most of the consultants are simply money-minded; they do not care about students' future. They make students believe that they can find a medical or engineering college for them; only, they do not tell them that it is highly likely that the college is fraudulent.

Most students are probably unaware of the existence of a government body, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is responsible for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India. Recently, the UGC released a list of 23 fake universities on its website, and it is obvious that the degrees provided by such universities are useless. Similarly, another authoritative organisation, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) also published a list 279 fake technical colleges or institutes. It is clear then that students should not trust educational consultancies blindly.

What they can first do is their own research. These days, almost all students have access to the Internet, so they can quite easily determine which colleges seem genuine; contacting a consultancy should be considered an option only once this step has been completed. If hesitant, they can ask for their family’s help. Parents have just as important a role as students when it comes to making decisions about education; it is crucial for them to avoid pressuring their child to study specific subjects without considering their wishes. Parents should never forget that their child will only realise their full potential and excel when studying a subject they love and enjoy.

 (Published in an English Daily The Rising Nepal on Friday, April 7, 2017 ) 

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