View Marie-Helene Duprat's profileLots of students from different parts of Asia (including Nepal) and Africa come to India, especially Bangalore, for graduating and working. The question has arisen at SEA as to whether or not the students (all Nepalese at this point) should be sent to India for higher education.
The debate is still going on… My personal answer to this question is YES, PROVIDED the students are clever and have strong self-confidence in the face of challenges. There is no doubt that studying in India can give you more job opportunities in foreign countries. Many of my friends want to go to foreign countries to work; nearly 50% of them have their own family business where they could work later on. The top universities in India are recognised worldwide, which can pave the way for a very nice job at home or abroad.
India’s best universities
It is very easy to dream but have you ever thought about the challenges to overcome? Probably not, I guess. So what should you expect about the challenges and job opportunities in India (the country with the second largest population in the world)?
I passed my 12th grade in Nepal and I came to Bangalore to study a Bachelor of Commerce degree. I have now been living in Bangalore for nearly 2 years, which has allowed me to gain much more knowledge about the outer world and its nature. I came to Bangalore with a dream to fulfil and I am very happy to say that I am confident that my dream will come true. Of course, I know that there are lots of challenges ahead. I, as a commerce student, face intense competition, if only because lots of students ambition to enter the business world (comparatively more, I feel, than those willing to work in the scientific world). Doing B.com (Bachelor of Commerce), B.B.M (Bachelor of Business Management) and other commerce courses will undoubtedly boost your C.V and knowledge but you have to know that it won’t guarantee you a job in India, owing to fierce competition.
India’s Akshata Sanjay Shete, in action at the Commonwealth Games rhythmic gymnastics team competition. Photo: K. Murali Kumar
Another observation that I have made is that marks do not matter that much, what is key to get a job in India is your confidence level as well as your communication skills. There are numerous multinational companies and good national companies in India who can give a job to a bachelor student but they seek primarily “extraordinary” students and it becomes difficult for the students to find space in the crowd. Talent is mostly rewarded rather than hard-work. This doesn’t mean that hard-working people are isolated: they are always taken into consideration. But brilliance is the most assured way to get a job here.
The bottom-line is tough COMPETITION.
100 meters competition !
My university has a recruitment facility but I heard that only 20% of the students get selected in good companies. Be aware: 20 students out of 100, only!! To get a job in the best companies, one must have studied in the top Indian faculties, but the top faculties don’t have place for average students. Let me tell you an instructive anecdote: two months ago in my university there was a selection for Goldman Sachs’ internships programs (one of the most renowned in India). The result? 40-to- 45 students only out of 350 got a chance to have an internship at Goldman Sachs!
Understand me well: I don’t mean that one should avoid coming to India to study commerce (students from Indian universities have done a lot of good to themselves!): more competition doesn’t mean that one should give up and stay behind; more competition means that you have to try your best to succeed. A course like B.B.M. is a passport to a good future in some of the renowned companies. But this is less straightforward when you are a B.com graduate. What I have observed is that people tend to take this program very lightly, almost like a pass-time! I have many friends who have taken this course just to enhance their C.V. for their business. Doing only B.com can expose students to substantial difficulties in finding a job later on given the companies’ high expectations in this 21st century. Usually the companies require from the students an extra course on top of the B.com, so that it becomes necessary for the students, if they want to get a good job, to take a dual program like Chartered Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Banking and Finance, Marketing, etc.
My impression is that science students find a job much more easily than commerce students, because they are trained to do the job that they will have in the future. This is especially true in the medical fields like Pharmacy or Medical; this is less clear in the engineering field, however. Let’s accept the fact that it is difficult to study medicine and engineering and other science courses, but once you complete your bachelor, your job lies in front of you. But since I don’t know much about the science world I will end here.
Shankar & his best griend !
To conclude, and as food for thought for my brothers and sisters at SEA, the Education system is almost the same in Nepal and in India, but due to India’s ascending reputation it becomes easier to get a job in good companies when you are a graduate from a reputed Indian university. Yet studying in Nepal is also a good idea because we have many good universities which can lead on to a nice job in the future.
In general, though, I think that students would be well advised to study in the universities in Nepal that are affiliated to foreign countries in order to gain maximum knowledge.
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Interesting reading !