KATHMANDU: Pandemic and vaccines have become talk of the town, cities, countries and the entire world since last couple of years and this has to be as well because we can’t merely watch people losing their lives due to Covid-19 and lack of immunization.
However, here I wish to discuss an off-track issue which is beyond this pandemic, beyond this crisis. Yes, it is about education, particularly in regard to personality development.
Migrating to Australia as an international student at the age of 27 made me look at things in a different way. Had I been an international student in my younger days, I would probably only cared about the freedom that Nepali families restrict their children from, in general. There are a lot of things included in regard to travelling to Australia as an international student but personality development is one of the topics which I hold close to me and wish to contribute however I can in the future.
The major process we have to go through before coming overseas includes interacting with agents or consultancies that operates for their own motive. The recommended suggestions coming from them is driven by the amount of commissions they get rather a genuine feedback to ease and foster students’ lives in Australia.
Furthermore, the only government processes involved for students are No Objection Letter from Ministry of Education and Police check from Nepal Police. There is no eligibility check to identify if a student is at a right state of mind physically (age, fitness), emotionally (resilient, work experience, English), socially (outgoing, outperforming, confident) and progressively (taking on challenges, inspirational, tough, stimulating).
It’s not only about eligibility check; there is no course, certification or recognition given to students in the form of a training (can be do’s and don’ts’, confidence development, making a resume, training on having one on one conversation and so much more to include).
I see the need of an effort by Education Ministry in Nepal to come up with an initiative to organize something to appreciate the decision of people travelling overseas as to my understanding Nepal is already making about 30% contribution through remittance in GDP. There has to be some contribution by the government in the form of learning and development to make students aware about the challenges coming their way.
After 2 years of my stay in Australia, which gave me an excellent platform to do all kind of observation among international students, I felt we are already doing good but I still feel so much more and better can be done. Our hard working and resilient characteristics make people from all around the globe, appreciate our work but I am more concerned about leadership here.
How many of us are taught or prepared to lead a company or even a team? Are we foresighted to outperform in the crowd having realism and openness? We are resilient but are we fearless? Well, sadly very few. As an underdeveloped country, we still stand on 67.9% literacy rate (according to the data of 2018) and not all of us come from the same educational capacities therefore, when it comes to travelling to a foreign land we intend to convince ourselves to settle for less. If we have to name the number of Nepalese making us proud in global arena, the list is not too long while the neighboring countries advancement and strength have capitalized and catalyzed changes impacting the entire world.
Well, being a conscious citizen of Nepal living overseas I can suggest prioritizing a better awareness program among prospect students to boost the reputation and gracefully be a relentless leader.
Writer: Anu Parajuli, Australia