Aim of Consultancy; Education or Money

With the changing custom and fashion, many people including youths as well as middle aged are more interested in going abroad. There's a peculiar concept in the mind of the people that one can secure their future going abroad. To some extend it can be termed as true as our country like Nepal is still an under developed and lack job opportunities. It has actually been a fashion for abroad study as students now are more influenced by the lifestyle and advanced technology. It has inclined many cities, among them Pokhara comes to be in the top. As many students apply for abroad after they have just completed their S.L.C and some after plus two. Students go abroad for further studies and at the same time do some part time jobs. Our main focus here is the city Pokhara and the number of education consultancy running in this valley.

To provide proper guidance and acquaintance regarding the abroad study, many education institutes have been initiated. In the past, there were a few consultancies but seeing the present context it has increased to a large number. Every single month, a new consultancy is built due to the demand for abroad study. It has been more like a commercial business to earn money rather than providing education. People prefer certain countries for abroad studies like America, UK, Australia, Spain, Scotland, Canada and Japan. Some even apply for Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and India for further studies. But at present people in large number have shown much interest in counties like America, Canada, UK and Australia.

Seeing the past survey it was found that there are about 2 dozens of consultancies in the valley who are providing their service and guiding the people to go aboard. Here are lists of consultancies like Global Touch, Novel Academy, Kings Institute, Royal Education, Krish Education, Smart Academy, Orbit Academy and many more. There's a tough competition among the consultancies. Every education consultancy has a aim to send as many students as they can via them. One of the other facilities which are getting popular among the youngsters is the dependent visa where if one gets visa, he/she can also take their spouse with them. People in large number are applying each year and many have migrated to abroad.

Though this seems quite a simple process, sometimes it can be lengthy as applicants have to appear exams every month but only a few get selected. Thereafter one has to go through processes and re-apply for the visa. Though sometimes, some countries provides visa to the applicants in large number. Seeing the previous record, it was Australia. Due to this hundreds of students applied for Australia and many got selected. But the harsh reality today is that many Nepalese are struggling as there has been shortage of jobs due to the over population.
Similarly at present context, UK has been providing student visa to it's applicant in large number. Due to this easy going process, many have applied and are able to obtain visa. Students even after investing more than twelve lakhs for the visa, have been struggling and fighting to fulfill their basic needs in the streets of UK. In spite of all the hurdles, people applying for UK haven't yet been decreased as people still have hope that they can find jobs there. The BBC news had also cover the story of the misery of the Nepalese people who are jobless as well as homeless over there but still people haven’t left hope of going aboard. One of the student who was suffering in UK said, "We did a big mistake and are regretting here, we have no jobs and place to stay so I would like to request our Nepalese fellows not to apply for UK, at least for this year."

According to Sunita Gurung, counselor of Global Touch, "We are also concerned with the future of our students so we have currently stopped any processes relating to abroad study in UK. We don't want our students to go through any trouble. We are only allowing those students who have their relatives there who can take response of them."

There are some negative points as well as positive points for aboard study. We had some interrogation with some of the students studying as well as working abroad. Santosh Gurung, who is studying in Halls Institute, Australia has a different view regarding abroad study. He believes in the proverb that "When there is a will there is a way." According to him, "One has to struggle to fulfill his/her dream. If you have the will you can overcome any circumstances so I would ask others not to give up as you get the opportunities to study in colleges equipped with lot of facilities and opportunities. I work four days and go to collage every 3 days in a week and I am able to earn my living. Currently, I am doing my Diploma in Hospitality and living independently.

One of a student of Global touch, Arun Gurung had applied for UK in a student visa. He was given visa for 2 years but due to his ravishing performance in his studies, the government (UK) extended his visa for 5 years. He holds a good post there and is living a good life.

We even had some interrogation with the Sita Gurung whose visa got cancelled and had to return back from UK. When we asked her for the reason she answered, "I was the only one who was able to get an efficient job as well as continue my studies. I used to work 18 hours in a week which wasn't under rules so maybe due to jealously some of my friends complained it to the authority and my visa got cancelled." she expressed her grief that she had taken loans to go to abroad and had lots of dreams which was all broken as her Nepalese friends backstapped her in a foreign land.

Nepalese students aboard are struggling as they are finding hard to cover their basic needs expense. Seeing the consequences, we feel that the government should take some actions to those consultancies who are selling dreams of going aboard to the students. The government and the consultancies should disseminate information regarding the student life aboard, so that the students can choose wisely where they should be applying. With this article we hope that the consultancies will show dedication towards their work and give proper guidance to the students applying abroad apart from just collecting ransom money.