More than 500,000 students took the SLC exam this year, and all of them aspire to get into the best possible college for their further studies. With the same goal, these students have been flocking in to attend bridge courses to prepare themselves for the competitive entrance exams of the colleges. In bridge course centers of Kathmandu, students from all over Nepal can be found preparing for it.

At Intel Bridge Course Center in Bag Bazaar, the classrooms are full of students. One of them is Dibya Shrestha, who took her SLC exam from St Mary’s School in Gorkha. Dibya, who aspires to pursue Science in her +2, says that the only reason she’s joined the course is to be able to do well in the entrance exam of St Mary’s College in Jawalakhel here.

“I want to do well in the entrance test. And since the SLC results take at least two and half months to be declared, bridge course is the right way to keep fresh the lessons we’ve learned in school,” Dibya says.

Bishal Yadav from Nepalgunj agrees with Dibya. He has joined the preparation course at Intel in order to secure a seat at Orient College in its faculty of Science. He believes that the bridge course helps one prepare for the college as it deals with the fundamentals of the Class 11 course.

“Doing nothing for two and half months after SLC can be really dull. For a few days after SLC, I wandered around aimlessly with friends and my parents weren’t too happy about it. After joining the bridge course, I’ve been accustomed to studying again,” Bishal shares.

Priya Jha from Janakpur has also joined the course in order to utilize the long gap between SLC exam and the results. With an ambition to become a doctor, Priya wants to get into St Xavier’s College in Maitighar. The course has been beneficial, she says, “I’ve developed the habit of self learning and utilize the Internet as an open book rather than spend all my time on Facebook.”

Priya is also impressed by the teachers at Intel. She says, “It’s an enriching experience to be able to learn from veteran teachers of renowned colleges. I’ve become a lot confident about attending college now.”

In another bridge course center, NIMS, in Bag Bazaar, Dirgha Raj Shrestha is preparing to give shape to his dream of becoming a health assistant. Originally from Sindhuli, he wants to prepare himself to get admission in a good college in Kathmandu. “Bridge courses help students keep up with the reading habit,” he observes.

Min Bahadur Ranabhat, Math teacher at Intel Bridge Course Center, states that such courses help develop creativity in the students. He opines that the long gap after SLC exams can make students lazy and prone to get into bad circle of friends. Bridge course, in this case, can be a savior. He says, “Students who have only gained theoretical knowledge in schools learn the same thing practically in the preparation courses.”

Ranabhat further shares that since the students are taught the fundamentals of Class 11 course by experienced college teachers in the bridge course, they are practically prepared for the competitive entrance examinations conducted by the colleges. “Besides the revision of what they’ve already learned in their school, bridge courses help students prepare for what awaits them further at college,” he says.

According to Gyanendra Mishra, Manager at Intel, it has been running bridge course for the past eight years. Every year, an average of 1,500 students joins the preparation class in Intel alone. He informs that majority of these students aim at getting admitted into renowned colleges in the Science stream.

Likewise, Ram Chandra Gautam, Head of Administration at NIMS says that the preparation courses not only bridges the gap between the school and college course, but also gives the students a platform to network and meet friends with similar academic goals.

source:RUBY RAUNIAR , republica,7 may 2014