After studying in Nepal for over a decade, many students wish to apply to colleges abroad in search of better education and opportunities. But with international education degrees being offered, here in Nepal itself, graduating with an internationally recognized degree is not a far-fetched dream.
“Employers, worldwide, value British education,” claims David Bryce, Principal of The British College located in Thapathali. Established to cater to the Nepali students who want to achieve a British education degree, The British College only recently took up its first batch of students.
Bryce says the objective of opening British College stemmed from the need to address international students who want to study abroad but have not been able to doso. “Students who enroll at The British College begin and complete their education in Nepal. However, they do have the choice of going abroad for a semester via student exchange but the certificate they receive is exactly the same as the students studying in the university in the UK,” says Bryce.
“We are striving to give Nepali students a British degree to make sure that we produce Nepali manpower whose job prospects aren’t limited to Nepal only,” says Sulav Budhathoki, Chariman and CEO of Islington College , formerly known as Informatics College.
Islington started as a regular franchisee of the Singapore main-board listed Informatics Education Limited (IEL) and since 2010 has been directly affiliated to the London Metropolitan University in the UK.
“From day one, our students are validly the students of our partner university in the UK and receive a complete UK experience with access to the UK university e-library, teaching systems of lectures, tutorials and workshops and possession of the university identity cards,” shares Budhathoki.
Adding to that, Bigyan Shrestha, Managing Director of Softwarica College of IT & E-commerce , puts forward the cost issues faced by many of the Nepali students. ”It takes around 1.2 to 1.3 million rupees for Nepali students to study in colleges in the UK but studying here in Nepal would only cost them around Rs 600,000,” he says.
“Studying abroad is expensive. We started this college keeping in mind those students who are looking for an international level education but can’t afford the same,” says Shrestha. “Also, the Information Technology (IT) education sector in Nepal doesn’t match an international standard as it lacks a focused curriculum and isn’t up to date with the current IT scenario,” adds Shrestha who, through Softwarica College, aims to change this.
All the colleges who are providing international degrees here in Nepal are not only offering the certificate at the end, but are also giving the experience that one would get abroad. To make sure that the students are getting a complete British education experience, The British College not only has the usual infrastructural facilities, but also boasts a gymnasium, student common room and learning resource centers. All the teachers in all the Colleges are selected if they meet the criteria of the Universities they are affiliated to. While some colleges also offer job placement for the students after the completion of their degrees.
“To receive an international affiliation, we have to meet the requirements of an international college environment through infrastructure, qualified teaching human resource and other facilities for the students,” says Dhurba Babu Joshi, Principal at International School of Management and Technology (ISMT) in Tinkune.
ISMT provides Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM), Bachelor in Science (BSc), Information Technology (IT) and Bachelor in Travel & Tourism Management (BTTM) while The British College offers undergraduate and graduate courses in business as well as Information Technology (IT).
While Softwarica College of IT & E-commerce give the students a choice between BSc (Hons) in Business Computing and Information System to BSc (Hons) in Computing, both of which is awarded by NCC education, which is a globally recognized awarding body for British education.
Islington College, on the other hand, provides Bachelor in Computing, Bachelor in Computer Networking & IT Security and Bachelor in Multimedia Technology.
