JANAKPUR: The April 25 earthquake caused massive damage to schools and colleges in Kathmandu, but this has not deterred students from outside the Valley to come to Kathmandu for higher studies.

After passing SLC with 92.75 per cent, Rohit Kumar Singh of Janakpur's Monastic Residential School's wants to come to Kathmandu for higher studies. He says, "Weather conditions play a huge role in a person's mental and physical wellbeing. Hence, Kathmandu is the most natural option students from the Tarai."

The quake caused panic among residents of the Valley, but students still argue that Kathmandu has better colleges than any other city in the country.

"Given the weather conditions, Kathmandu is the best place to study," says Binaya Pariyar, who passed SLC from Sapahi School in first division. "Besides, Kathmandu offers many choices when it comes to higher education. And that's why many students like me make Kathmandu our destination for further studies."

And whether the students come to Kathmandu or opt to study in colleges in India, most of them prefer to study science.

According to a survey carried out by Republica in which students were asked their choice of subject after SLC, 71% said they prefer to study science with 43% wanting to pursue medicine and 2 percent engineering. Only 25% preferred to study management whereas a few were undecided about their future plans.

Rohit said he had an interest in science since his childhood. Like Rohit, his classmates Moni Chaudhary, Sapana Sah, Ruchi Sah and Madhav Sah all aspire to study medicine and become doctors.

The trend is same in the public schools where many students attaining good results go for medicine or engineering.

According to local education expert Binod Pal, those taking up humanities or management are usually the ones who have not attained good marks or do not have the resources to finance their studies.

Binaya Pajiya of BP Koirala School, Sipahi's who secured 65.38% is also planning to take up engineering. "There are not many well-paying jobs in Nepal. But for engineering students there are opportunities. That's why I want to pursue it", he says.

According to Pal, it is because of the wide spread belief that only doctors and engineers get respectable position in the society that many parents push their children to pursue a career in that field. “There are opportunities in other fields also.  So students should also be encouraged to study agricultural sciences, veterinary sciences, tourism and social sciences,” says Chairman of Dahnusha chapter of Nepal Teachers Association Meghnath Yadav.

“The country needs good doctors and engineers, but getting good marks doesn’t mean that should be your only priority,” he added.

Out of the 9785 students who’d appeared in the SLC examinations this year, only 37.73% or 3,695 passed. Among them, 351 were distinction holders, 1,646 passed in first division, 5,538 in second division and 160 passed in third division. In the exempted category from Dhanusha, 23 passed in first division, 469 in second and 81 in third division.

source: republica,24 june 2015