Making the right choice

by SHITU RAJBHANDARI

FROM ISSUE # 151 (July 2008) | IN THIS ISSUE
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There used to be a time when choosing what to study after SLC was as easy as picking a shirt from your closet. Depending on your interest and percentage, you chose science if you were a very good student, commerce if you were just good and arts if you were average. But with the passing of time and the introduction of different courses which can be tailor made to fit your future plan, the task gets tougher than the grade ten exams themselves. This month we have a group of students studying in different courses talking about the good, bad and the ugly sides of each. Read on to know more about them, which might just help you in making your choices.  

Participants
Krita Bhattarai, +2 (Management), St Mary's High School
Darshan Shakya, A Level, Rato Bangala School
Shristi Shakya, +2 (Arts), St Mary's High School
Shashwat Uprety, ISc, St Xavier's College
Siddarth Yonzon, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), DAV School
Shradha Basnet, A Level, Budanilkantha High School

Why did you choose to study this course?

ANUP PRAKASH Shashwat

Krita: It wasn't a planned choice. I knew I didn't want to study science or arts so I chose management on the spot while I was filling the forms.
Darshan: It's internationally recognised and the course is tougher than others and I personally feel the level of English is higher in A level.
Shristi: My parents decided that I was going to spend 12 years in St Mary's and  since I don't like math or science, I opted for arts.
Shashwat: Initially I was confused but I chose science because I want to be a engineer in the future.
Siddarth: I had heard that if one scores 80% in SLC, one could easily score 90% in the CBSE board with the same amount of studying but now I realise that that was just a rumour.
Shradha: I chose A Levels because of the flexibility of the subjects we could choose. I wanted to study physics, chemistry and further mathematics so my subject combination made me choose A Levels.

Was it your personal choice or was it forced on you?

Darshan

Shristi: It was sort of forced on me but I am happy that I did because most of my friends from grade 10 continued in the same school with me.
Darshan: It wasn't forced but my parents suggested that I do A Level too.
Krita, Sashwat, Shradha, Siddharth: It was a personal choice.

What do you think is the best part about your course?
Krita: I enjoy math which arts or science doesn't offer. And my course helps me get closer to my dream of becoming a successful woman entrepreneur.
Shradha: Once again the freedom of choice regarding subjects and even if the school doesn't offer the subject you can register yourself and do self study and get a good score.
Darshan: We can choose as many subjects as we want and its flexible in terms of taking a break in between the years and continuing again after a year.
Shashwat: It's a very vast course and there are is a lot to be learnt. So it challenges you to understand properly and get into the core of the matter.
Siddarth: I'm not good in Nepali so we don't have to study that.

What is the negative point of your course?

Siddarth

Darshan: The course is too vast and there are too many things we need to know to answer questions which aren't even straight forward.
Krita: We don't get to implement practically the theories we've learnt. Even though we have to do subjects that are the base of all management courses, its boring just to study about it and not be able to use it in real life.
Shristi: We only rely on textbooks and we don't have a lot of research based subjects.
Shashwat: The teachers come and just give us lectures without any books or notes. They refer to many different books and it's difficult to catch up at times.
Siddarth: It's a lot of hard work and there is a lot of studying to be done to be on top of things.

Did you notice a change in the teaching styles of the teachers from the ones in school?

Krita

Darshan: The teachers just come and give lectures and it's us who have to do a lot of research and make the internet your best friend. We are given project works where we have to use the classroom knowledge into real life corporate sections.
Krita: The teachers are more approachable and are easy to question unlike in school.
Shashwat: In school we got equal attention but in college it's a huge class and teachers just come, give their lecture on topics and its up to us to make notes and refer to past questions and study.

What about the environment?

Shradha

Shradha: It's very competitive because from day one we are made to feel that whatever we do now will affect our future. So everyone is serious about it.     
Darshan: Yes, and we have to pay attention in class because tuitions for A Levels aren't available and even if we do find one, its very expensive so the classroom is the only form of guidance for us.
Siddarth: At my school, everyone is always studying. Students prepare for the lesson even before the teachers start teaching it. Day to day studying is a must, unlike in my previous school where slacking was allowed once in a while.

What are your future plans?

Shristi

Krita: I want to be a banker or get a job in the UN. Education wise, get my Bachelor's degree and then may be go abroad for my Masters. My maternal uncle and aunt want me to go abroad. 
Darshan: Go abroad after A Levels because my parents want me to. Career wise I want to get into finance management.
Siddarth: I want to join the Nepal Police so I have no plans of leaving in Nepal.
Shristi: I want to get my Bachelor's degree in Development Studies so I'll be here till then.
Shradha: I'm applying to colleges abroad but I haven't decided what I am going to study.
Shashwat: I might go to UK or India to study aeronautical engineering.